Dental caries clusters among adolescents.

Area of Science:

• Dental Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Adolescent Health

Background:

• Longitudinal studies on adolescent dental caries are scarce.
• Caries risk factors in this age group require further investigation.
• Understanding caries trajectories is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe distinct dental caries trajectories in adolescents.
• To identify associated risk factors for these trajectories.
• To analyze data from the Iowa Fluoride Study (IFS) cohort.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Ward's hierarchical clustering to identify caries trajectories based on decayed and filled surfaces (DFS) at ages 9, 13, and 17.
• Employed multinomial logistic regression to predict trajectory membership.
• Included longitudinal dietary, fluoride, and demographic/behavioral data from ages 9 to 17.

Main Results:

• Identified three distinct caries trajectories: no DFS (n=142), low DFS (n=145), and high DFS (n=109) at age 17.
• The high caries trajectory was significantly associated with lower maternal education, lower 100% juice consumption, less frequent tooth brushing, and female sex.
• Model selection favored using average dietary variables and included factors like maternal education, juice consumption, brushing frequency, and sex.

Conclusions:

• Clustering algorithms and AIC effectively presented longitudinal caries data.
• Adolescent high caries incidence is associated with specific socioeconomic and behavioral factors.
• Findings highlight the need for targeted preventive strategies for at-risk adolescent populations.