%0 Journal Article %T A case-control study of determinants for high and low dental caries prevalence in Nevada youth %A Marcia Ditmyer %A Georgia Dounis %A Connie Mobley %A Eli Schwarz %J BMC Oral Health %D 2010 %I BioMed Central %R 10.1186/1472-6831-10-24 %X Over 4000 adolescents between ages 12 and 19 (Case Group: N = 2124; Control Group: N = 2045) received oral health screenings conducted in public/private middle and high schools in Nevada in 2008/2009 academic year. Caries prevalence was computed (Untreated decay scores [D-Score] and DMFT scores) for the 30% of Nevada Youth who presented with the highest DMFT score (case group) and compared to the control group (caries-free) and to national averages. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between selected variables and caries prevalence.A majority of the sample was non-Hispanic (62%), non-smokers (80%), and had dental insurance (70%). With the exception of gender, significant differences in mean D-scores were found in seven of the eight variables. All variables produced significant differences between the case and control groups in mean DMFT Scores. With the exception of smoking status, there were significant differences in seven of the eight variables in the bivariate logistic regression. All of the independent variables remained in the multivariate logistic regression model contributing significantly to over 40% of the variation in the increased DMFT status. The strongest predictors for the high DMFT status were racial background, age, fluoridated community, and applied sealants respectively. Gender, second hand smoke, insurance status, and tobacco use were significant, but to a lesser extent.Findings from this study will aid in creating educational programs and other primary and secondary interventions to help promote oral health for Nevada youth, especially focusing on the subgroup that presents with the highest mean DMFT scores.By the year 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the global average goal for dental caries was to be no more than 3 DMFT (decayed, missing, filled teeth) at 12 years of age [1]. Although there has been a significant decline in dental caries prevalence since the early 1970s, oral %U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6831/10/24