mineral analyses of garden soils , vegetables , and water samples from 21 villages in the sepik and fly river regions of the territory of papua and new guinea , in which the mean prevalence of dental caries ranged from 0 to 29.5 % decayed teeth per person , have shown the following relationships between variations in the caries prevalence and the amounts of certain elements : ( 1 ) a strong inverse association with concentrations of alkali and alkaline earth elements , especially strontium , barium , potassium , magnesium , calcium , and lithium , in garden soils . ( 2 ) a possible direct association with concentrations of lead and copper in village garden soils . ( 3 ) consistent evidence of inverse associations with concentrations of vanadium , molybdenum , manganese , aluminium , titanium , and phosphorus and of direct associations with concentrations of lead , copper , chromium , zinc , and selenium in the staple foodstuffs-namely , sago , sweet potato , and chinese taro.in general , analyses of soils and vegetables from 22 villages in the highlands of papua-new guinea have confirmed the soil associations with the caries prevalence reported for villages in the sepik and fly river regions .
C0013879
elements
C0031705
phosphorus