Table 4.

The mean DMFT and DMFS increments and the mean number of new developed carious lesions for each of the caries-related variables.

Factor	Mean DMFT increment	Mean DMFS increament	Mean number of new developed caries	Number of individuals
Diet content
Score 0	0	0	0a	4
Score 1	0	0	0a	20
Score 2	0.28± 0.67	0.5±0.86	0.5±0.8a	31
Score 3	0.53±0.98	0.57±0.98	0.54±0.98a	45
Diet frequency
Score 0	0.03±0.12	0.06±1.11	0.06±0.11a	23
Score 1	0.47±0.73	0.56±0.71	0.55±0.71b	40
Score 2	0.45±0.83	0.72±0.75	0.69±0.72b	17
Score 3	1.23±1.41	1.23±1.41	1.23±1.41c	20
Plaque amount
Score 0	0.05±0.23	0.05±0.23	0.05±0.23a	19
Score 1	0.25±0.51	0.25±0.51	0.23±0.49a	30
Score 2	0.64±1.11	0.79±1.13	0.75±1.14b	33
Score 3	1.28±1.11	1.42±1.13	1.42±1.13b	18
Mutans streptococci
Score 0	0	0	0a	6
Score 1	0.45±0.87	0.39±0.93	0.39±0.93a	32
Score 2	0.54±0.90	0.62±0.92	0.60±0.90a	37
Score 3	0.8±1.1	1±1.00	0.91±1.03a	25
Fluoride program
Score 0	0	0	0a	4
Score 1	0.37±1.06	0.5±1.06	0.5±1.06a	8
Score 2	0.4±0.75	0.54±0.83	0.53±0.83a	88
Score 3	-	-	-	0
Saliva secretion rate
Score 0	0.25±0.75	0.27±0.78	0.25±0.75a	83
Score 1	1.5±1.82	1.8±2.01	1.7±1.3b	10
Score 2	1.14±1.22	1.28±1.42	1.28±1.42b	7
Score 3	-	-	-	0
Saliva buffering capacity
Score 0	0.43±0.85	0.52±0.93	0.49±0.89a	95
Score 1	0.6±0.55	0.6±0.55	0.6±0.55a	5
Score 2	-	-	-	0
Caries experience
Score 0	0.33±0.81	0.33±0.81	0.33±0.81a	6
Score 1	0.44 ±0.90	0.54 ±0.85	0.51±0.73a	21
Score 2	0	0	0a	27
Score 3	0.57±0.75	0.68±0.79	0.64±0.80a	46

^*Different letters in the same column indicate significant differences between the different categories of each variable.