TABLE 3.

Caries prevalence, according to sociodemographic characteristics among children aged 2–5 years, NHANES^* 1999–2004.^†

VARIABLES	PERCENTAGE (SE‡) OF CHILDREN WITH CARIES
TOTAL	28.5 (1.5)
Age, in Years
2 (reference)	11.9 (1.8)§
3	25.0 (2.7)
4	35.2 (4.0)
5	39.5 (3.6)
Sex
Male	29.8 (2.4)
Female (reference)	27.3 (2.1)
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white (reference)	25.7 (2.2)
Non-Hispanic black	29.2 (2.2)
Mexican-American	42.6 (2.5)¶
Other	26.3 (4.2)
Poverty Level, in Percentage FPC#
< 100	43.4 (3.3)
100–299	29.4 (2.4)
≥ 300	13.2 (2.4)§

^*NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

^†Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.¹⁷

^‡SE: Standard error.

^§P ≤ .05 (linear trend test) for age and poverty only for caries prevalence.

^¶P ≤ .05 for comparison with reference group for caries prevalence.

^#FPG: Federal poverty guideline.²²