M 101
Appendix I (a).
# SUMMARY OF A REPORT AND THE MAIN FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY ON THE ORAL AND DENTAL CONDITIONS OF CHINESE CHILDREN IN HONG KONG.
Realizing the fact that dental disease is one of the most common disabilities and, besides the immediate inconvenience or suffering it brings, undoubtedly contributes greatly to the onset of other forms of ill health and in a great variety of ways to an incalculable total of economic and human loss; and realizing the apparent prevalence of dental disease among Chinese children, it was decided that a survey should be carried out in order to determine the actual extent to which they are affected by dental disease, in order that proper measures could be taken to cope with the problem intelligently. The investigator was instructed by the director of medical services to undertake the task, which has recently been completed.
In this survey special emphasis is laid on the incidence of dental caries and on the time of eruption of permanent teeth of Chinese children; and appropriate consideration was given to the incidences of malocclusion, arrested caries, hypoplasia and gingivitis. This survey has revealed facts that are of definite value. The summary of the results are as follows:-
(1) The children furnishing the statistics are refugees in the emergency refugee camps. The total number examined was 1,131, out of this number about a thousand of them are from Hong Kong and its vicinity, and 120 of them are from Central China. It was found that 90.8 per centum of children from South China have carious teeth. The total number of permanent teeth examined = 13,414, out of this number 2,418 or 16.01 per centum are carious; the total number of deciduous teeth examined 9,899 and out of this number 3,896 or 39.35 per centum of them are carious.
(2) Most caries in permanent teeth among children of South China starts on the occlusal surface - 90.54 per centum of all caries in permanent teeth is among the molars, and 96.87 per centum of caries in the molars starts on the occlusal surface. This seems to indicate that structural defects, in forms of pits and fissures to be the main predisposing cause of caries in children's permanent teeth.
(3) The incidence of caries affecting the occlusal surface of deciduous teeth is higher than that affecting the other surfaces, while the lingual surface is least affected. Concerning caries affecting these surfaces, Chinese children show higher incidence than English children. The buccal and lingual surfaces of deciduous teeth of Chinese children have a higher incidence, while their proximal surface have a lower incidence of caries in comparison with those of English children in England.
(4) Permanent teeth of the right side of the jaws are slightly less affected by caries than those on the left side. This seems to suggest that adequate usage of teeth would promote development and avoid caries to a certain extent.
(5) Upper anterior deciduous teeth are affected more by caries than the lower. Deciduous teeth of the left and right sides are affected by caries with about equal frequencies; and caries affecting deciduous teeth is observed in more bilaterally symmetrical manner.
(6) Permanent lower first molars when first erupted is found to take a slightly distal position, then slide slightly forward, after the shedding of the deciduous second molars mesial to them.
(7) Dental caries is found to be more prevalent among children of South China than among those from Central China. Permanent teeth of children from Central China grow more regularly, and they erupt in better order.