" when we apply this to young girls , it allows children to estimate what might be their expected caries periods - the fraction of cavities that they ' ll get by , think , their late 20s or early 30s , " states researcher todd duncan . termed the caries assessment and risk evaluation ( sam ) test , the experiment measures the relative ratios in urine of three types of sugar chains called oligosaccharides . the same sugar chains are observed on tooth walls .
A test can predict cavities.