Risk Predictors of Dental Caries in Preschool Children

Objective: This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the predictive ability of clinical, sociodemographic and behavioral variables in caries increment of 5-6-year preschool children, after 18 months of baseline evaluation. Methods: A total of 361 children attending 22 public schools in Piracicaba were examined in 2005 and 2006 by the same calibrated dentist. At baseline, dental caries, presence of initial lesion (IL), gingival status, dental fluorosis and presence of crowding and spacing were recorded. The children's parents completed a semi-structured questionnaire concerning socioeconomic level and the presence of deleterious oral habits. After 18 months, children were reexamined for dental caries. Univariate analyses (Chi-square or the Fisher's Exact tests) were performed to test the association between two dependent variables (DMFS increment and DMFS+IL increment) and the independent variables collected at baseline. Logistic regression models were adjusted estimating the Odds Ratio (OR), 95% confidence intervals (CI) and p-values. Results: The mean (standard deviation) values of DMFS increment and DMFS+IL increment were 0.20 (0.92) and 0.62 (1.29), respectively. Having past caries experience (OR=4.25; CI=1.95-9.27) and car ownership (OR=2.27; CI=1.06-4.88) were found to be risk predictors of DMFS increment. The risk predictors of DMFS+IL increment were past caries experience (OR=5.05; CI=2.76-9.24) and use of nursing bottle (OR=1.91; CI=1.05-3.48). Conclusion: Caries experience in primary dentition was the main risk predictor of caries increment in permanent teeth. Moreover, some socioeconomic and behavioral variables were able in identifying children at risk of future caries.

This study was supported by FAPESP (grants #2005/58979-6 and #2006/50251-6), São Paulo, Brazil.