Purpose: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of noncavitated and cavitated caries lesions in a group of five year old Turkish children.
Methods: A set of caries diagnostic criteria differentiating between active and inactive caries lesions at both noncavitated and cavitated levels was used to assess the caries status of the children. The examinations were performed on 300 children between 5 and 6 years of age.
Results: The mean number and prevalence of active shallow and deep cavitated caries lesions (2.43+/-0.22, 21.67% and 3.39+/-0.41, 16%) were found higher than active and inactive noncavitated caries lesions (1.70+/-0.16, 14.67% and 1.78+/-0.12, 15.67%). The mean dft and dfs score were determined as 1.93+/-0.17 and 2.47+/-0.29. The mostly affected surface by both noncavitated and cavitated lesions was occlusal of second molars in both arches, whereas the mean number of both type of lesions were much more higher in mandibular second molars. A significant association between the presence of noncavitated and cavitated lesions was found (chi(2)=15.56, p<0.05).
Conclusions: Dental caries prevalence was relatively low in the primary dentition and the cavitated caries lesions were more common than the noncavitated lesions, however the prevalence of active and inactive noncavitated lesions were found considerably high in this group of Turkish children.