[Study on availability of dental health services for children in health center--correlation between attendance of 3-year-old children at dental health services and caries prevalence].

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dental health services for children in a health center. The samples were 316 children who had 3-year-old dental examination at a health center in Tokyo. The analysis was carried out by a computer using the results of the children's oral status and of their mothers', questionnaires and past records showing when and how many times they had attended such activities. The results were as follows: 1. Attendance of children at dental services showed the effectiveness in preventing dental caries, and it was suggested that attendance at least 3 times before the age of 18 months should be the most effective way to decrease the dental caries in the 3-year-olds. 2. According to the questionnaires, time of going to bed, snacks time, and the habit of thumb-sucking at the age of 3 years, and stopping the habit of bottle-feeding and of night breast-feeding at 18 months of age showed a great correlation concerning the number of dental caries in the 3-year-olds. 3. The more often the children had attended the dental services, the more often their behavior for eating snacks and toothbrushing changed for the better. 4. The more the mothers had dental caries, the more was the number of dental caries in their children and moreover their attendance at the dental services was less.