Dental caries in the primary dentition: assessing prevalence of cavitated and noncavitated lesions.

Background: Dental caries in the primary dentition has received renewed attention in recent years because caries in the primary dentition is predictive of later caries experience, and because of efforts to address early childhood caries. More detailed caries diagnostic criteria have been developed and used for the permanent teeth; however, such criteria have not been widely adopted for caries diagnosis in the primary dentition.

Methods: As part of the Iowa Fluoride Study, caries diagnostic criteria were developed specifically for the primary teeth.

Antibodies to granulocytic ehrlichiae in cattle from Connecticut.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) with a purified recombinant 44-kDa protein and indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) staining methods incorporating whole-cell antigens of the human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) agent were used to detect antibodies to Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup organisms in cattle sera. The cattle lived in tick-infested areas of Connecticut, USA and were healthy at the times blood samples were collected in 1990, 1999 and 2000. Of the 339 serum samples analysed, 40 (12%) and 15 (4%) were positive by ELISA and IFA, respectively.

Tooth loss in the very old: 13-15-year incidence among elderly Iowans.

Objectives: Very few studies have reported tooth loss incidence over a period of 10 years or more, and fewer have reported tooth loss occurrence in subjects aged 80 and older, so that the long-term pattern of tooth loss in the very old is largely unknown. This study assessed 13-15-year tooth loss incidence among a cohort of Iowans, aged 65 and older at baseline.

Methods: Oral examinations were conducted on 520 subjects beginning in 1983, and periodically until 1988, with another round of examinations conducted on surviving members of the initial cohort during 1996-98.

Follow-up study of dental students' esthetic perceptions of mild dental fluorosis.

Objectives: Several studies have assessed people's esthetic perceptions of dental fluorosis, suggesting that concerns may be greater than believed previously. Few studies have assessed dental students' perceptions and none has done so over time. The purpose of this paper is to report on changes in dental students' esthetic perceptions of dental fluorosis and other conditions.

Frequency of reported dental visits and professional fluoride applications in a cohort of children followed from birth to age 3 years.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report the prevalence of having a dental visit and/or a topical fluoride treatment at the dental visit from birth to age 36 months from an observational, longitudinal study of a cohort of children followed since birth.

Methods: Multiple questionnaires were sent to the families of children enrolled in a study of fluoride ingestion to ask parents if their child had had a dental (or dental hygiene) appointment and/or a fluoride treatment during the time interval since the previous mailed survey. Data were analyzed to determine the percentages of children who had at least one dental visit or at least one fluoride treatment by one, two or three years of age.

Reactivity of dog sera to whole-cell or recombinant antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi by ELISA and immunoblot analysis.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) with separate preparations of 10 purified recombinant antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto were used to test sera from 36 dogs not vaccinated with whole cells of this agent and from five dogs vaccinated with whole-cell B. burgdorferi bacteria. All dogs lived in tick-infested areas of Connecticut and south-eastern New York state, USA.