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Intake of sweet drinks and sweet treats versus reported and observed caries experience
1Dept. Paediatric Dentistry, Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, 720 Swanston Street, Victoria 3010 Australia.
Insights
Frequent consumption of sweet drinks and treats significantly increases children's caries risk. Parents should be informed about these risks and encouraged to ensure regular dental care for high-risk children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Dental Public Health
- Caries Risk Assessment
Background:
- Dietary habits, particularly the intake of sweet beverages and treats, are significant factors in childhood caries development.
- Assessing caries risk in children requires validated tools that consider multiple contributing factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between sweet drink and sweet treat consumption in children and their risk of developing caries.
- To evaluate the utility of the Paediatric Risk Assessment Tool (PRAT) and Caries-risk Assessment Tool (CAT) in assessing caries risk.
Main Methods:
- Parents of 266 healthy primary school children completed the PRAT questionnaire detailing dietary intake, oral hygiene, and caries history.
- A subgroup of 100 children underwent clinical examination using the CAT tool to assess caries, plaque, gingivitis, and enamel demineralization.
Main Results:
- High caries risk was prevalent (81% in the subgroup), associated with frequent sweet drinks/foods between meals, irregular dental care, and enamel demineralization.
- Parentally-reported caries correlated with increased treat frequency; observed caries linked to evening sweet drinks, suboptimal fluoride, and combined sweet intake with treats.
Conclusions:
- The PRAT and CAT tools are effective for assessing pediatric caries risk.
- Emphasizing the caries risk associated with frequent sweet drink and treat consumption to parents is crucial.
- Parents of high-risk children should be strongly encouraged to seek regular dental care.
Aim:
This was to study the intakes of sweet drinks and sweet treats of children and their caries risk using the Paediatric Risk Assessment Tool (PRAT, 2003) and Caries-risk Assessment Tool (CAT, 2007-8).
Study Design:
Parents of 266 healthy primary school children completed the PRAT questionnaire during their child's dental appointment at the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne, Australia, describing their fluid and sweet treat intakes in the past 24 hours, oral hygiene practices and past caries. A subgroup (n=100) was examined clinically (CAT) for caries requiring restoration, visible plaque, gingivitis, orthodontic appliances, enamel defects, and use of dental care.
Results:
The estimated mean daily fluid intake was 1.5+/-0.5L; fluids were consumed 3-5/ day by 57% of children and 78% usually had evening/night drinks. Fluids consumed were: tap water by 90%, milk by 74%, juice by 50%, regular soft drink by 30%; sweet treats were consumed by 62% and confectionery by 25%. Most children (69%) brushed their teeth > or =2/day; 5% flossed daily. Parentally-reported caries was associated significantly with increasing treats frequency (p=0.006). In the subgroup, 81% were at high caries risk; 47% had irregular dental care; 21% had sweet drinks/foods frequently between meals; 49% had visible plaque/gingivitis, and 34% had enamel demineralisation. Caries observed in the past 12 months was associated significantly with evening sweet drinks (p=0.004), and suboptimal fluoride exposure (p=0.009). Caries observed in the past 24 months was associated significantly with treats frequency (p=0.006), intake of sweet drinks plus treats (p=0.000), enamel demineralisation (p=0.000) and irregular dental care (p=0.000).
Conclusions:
The PRAT and CAT are valuable tools in assessing children's caries risk. The risk of caries from frequent intake of sweet drinks, either alone or in addition to sweet treats, must be emphasised to parents. All parents, and particularly those of children assessed at high risk from intakes of sweet drinks and sweet treats, suboptimal fluoride exposure, or enamel demineralisation, must be encouraged to obtain regular dental care for their children.
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