Dental caries isa disease widely spread in the world, therefore, it has been and it is stillthe most frequent disease of modern man. Due to the high incidence of this oraldisease, and to the great need to prevent it, it was decided to conduct thisinvestigation in order to evaluate the connection of the cariogenic microorganismsand some demographic variables with dental caries in children. A case-controlanalytical study was undertaken in the municipality of Matanzas, province ofMatanzas, during the academic course 2004-2005. The study group was composedof 11 311 children aged 6-12. A randomized sample of 900 children (300 casesand 600 controls) was selected. The highest percentage of white children (62%) were affected by caries, 91.3 % and 40 % of the children from the case grouphad an elevated degree of infection caused by Streptococcus mutans y lactobacilli,respectively, which showed a positive association between dental caries andthese variables.
Key words:Dental caries, Streptococcus mutans, lactobacilli.
