FOOD OF RURAL CHILDREN 



133 



Siv-ifiear molars 



Inasmuch as the various teeth are not all equally prone to decay, a measure 

 was sought which would avoid errors arising from comparisons between teeth 

 with a greater tendency to decay and those that have a lesser tendency to 

 decay; as, for example, molars and incisors. The four first permanent, or 

 six-year, molars have, therefore, been selected as the teeth to be used in 

 making comparisons between conditions of teeth and diet. In all except the 

 very youngest pupils, all four of these molars were erupted, as may be seen 

 from Tables 21 and 22. 



The word "carious" is used to include both filled and unfilled cavities. The 

 purpose of these tabulations is not to list dental repair work which should be 

 attended to, but to discover if possible a relationship between teeth and 

 dietary habits. From this point of view, a filled cavity is of the same sig- 

 jiif carce as an unfilled one. It was not feasible to make a study of size or 

 location of cavities, although such data would be of considerable interest. 

 Examination of the original dental ret'ord blanks indicates that the cavities in 

 the teeth of Carver children average larger than those in the teeth of the 

 Southwick children. 



The molars have been classified according to the number of fissures and 

 cavities. No child was discovered in Carver or Southwick who had all four 



Table 22. Condition of the Four First Permanent, or Six-year Molars of 



Children of Native and Mixed Parentage Aged Seven Years, 



Six Months, and Over 



Condition of molars 



All unerupted 



No fissures: number of 



molars carious or 



extracted 



1 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 No carious or extracted: 



number of molars 



with fissures 



1 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 One or more fissures: 



number of molars 



carious or extracted 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 4 



Total number of children 



Number of children 



Carver 

 





 

 1 



27 



!(a) 



14 

 14 

 14 



Southwick 

 















16 











2 



21 



16 



16 



9 



6 



8(i 



(a) One child with one molar unerupted. 



