The book consists of three major parts: a review of the literature, a clinical survey of caries and fluorosis in European children living in South Africa and experimental studies of caries in the rat.
The review of the literature extends over ½ of the book. It covers the subjects of tooth development, factors influencing tooth development, local causes of dental caries, experimental caries in rats and fluorine and dental caries. The review is extensive, but portions of it are not directly related to the later sections.
The clinical survey covers an astonishing number of examinations in 78,563 children. The caries incidence was higher in urban (93 per cent) than in rural children (79 per cent). The clinical studies of endemic fluorosis and caries confirm the findings reported by Dean and others in this country. An incidental finding—that caries is more prevalent in citrus growing areas—is of interest.
The author produced