| Table 1: Groups potentially at a high risk of dental caries
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| Medical factors |
Patients
- with diseases, such as bulimia, Sjögren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus or pernicious anemia, that alter the flow rate or content of saliva,
- receiving chemotherapy with drugs that cause xerostomia, or
- receiving radiation therapy directed to the head or neck.
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| Lifestyle factors |
Patients with
- inadequate dietary habits and
- very poor oral hygiene.
|
| Dental factors |
Patients with
- previous dental caries who are less than 5 years of age,
- previous dental caries on surfaces of anterior teeth,
- active carious lesions that develop between recall examinations,
- a higher than average number of decayed, missing and filled teeth on approximal surfaces of posterior teeth,
- gingival recession or root caries, or
- high levels of cariogenic bacteria (e.g., more than 750 000 colony-forming units [CFU] of Streptococcus mutans and more than 100 000 CFU of lactobacilli per millilitre of saliva).
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