FOOD OF RURAL CHILDREN 



135 



or even three of these teeth free from either fissure or caries. Four children 

 in Carver and four in Southwick had one of these first permanent molars in 

 perfect condition; i.e., no fissure or caries; three children in Carver had two 

 perfect molars apiece, but no cliild in Southwick. Among the children of 

 native and mixed parentage, four in Carver and two in Southwick had each 

 one perfect molar; one Carver child had two perfect molars. 



Twenty-one Carver children and 73 Soutiiwick children, or approximately 

 one-eighth of the Carver children and one-third of the Southwick children, 

 had these first permanent molars free from caries; that is, with fissures as 

 the only defect found. It is assumed that the molars which had been ex- 

 tracted were taken out because of caries, and in the taliulations the data on 

 the two conditions have been presented together. 



A separate computation has been made of the conditions of the molars of 

 the children aged seven years and six months or over, thus omitting most of 

 those having any of these molars still unerupted. Among the 142 Carver 

 children, 66 or 46 per cent, and among the 191 Southwick children 3.5 or 18 

 per cent, had all four molars carious or extracted; of the children of native 

 stock, 27 or 32 per cent of the 84 Carver children and 16 or 19 per cent of 

 the 86 Southwick children had the molars all carious or extracted; while of 

 those of foreign-born parentage, 39 or 67 per cent of the 58 children in 

 Carver and 19 or 18 per cent of the 105 in Southwick also had the molars 

 all either carious or extracted. 



From the tables here presented it appears that in general the condition o.f 

 the teeth, as typified by the condition of the four first permanent molars, is 

 much better among the Southwick children, both native and foreign stock, 

 than among the Carver children. Since it has been shown tihat this is not due 

 to greater dental care, the reason has been sought in dietary habits. Tables 

 23 and 24 show for all children having both records available, the relation 

 between condition of molars and milk scores, and Tables 25 and 26 present 

 for children of native stock, the relation between condition of molars and 

 diet scores. 



In both these .sets of tables, where data for Carver and Southwick are 

 presented, the numbers are so small in the various subdivisions that it is 

 impossible to arrive at any conclusions and reliance must be placed upon 



Table 25. Condition of Four First Permanent Molars and Diet Scores of 



73 Carver Children of Native and Mixed Parentage 



from 8 to 17 Years of Age 



