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Indicators of Risk for Dental Caries in Children: A Holistic Approach
S Fernando1,2, S K Tadakamadla3, M Bakr1,2
1Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.
Insights
Dental caries in children is linked to maternal factors, low income, and reduced salivary function. These indicators are crucial for developing targeted prevention strategies in communities.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Dental caries is a significant global public health issue affecting children.
- Numerous factors contribute to caries development, varying by community.
- Understanding these determinants is key to effective prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify maternal, environmental, and intraoral risk indicators for dental caries experience.
- The study focused on 6- to 7-year-old children in South East Queensland, Australia.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 174 mother-child dyads.
- Collected maternal data (education, employment, BMI), environmental data (income), and intraoral data (salivary buffering capacity, flow rate, mutans streptococci).
- Used univariate and ordinal logistic regression analyses to assess associations with caries experience.
Main Results:
- Significant associations found between high caries experience and age, low salivary buffering capacity, reduced salivary flow rate, and past caries.
- Low annual household income (<$30,000 and <$60,000) and maternal employment status were also linked to higher caries levels.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the link between maternal, environmental, and intraoral factors and childhood caries in industrialized nations.
- These indicators should inform family and community-based preventive strategies.
- Results aid clinicians and policymakers in identifying at-risk children for cost-effective preventive care.
Background:
Dental caries in children is a major public health problem worldwide, with a multitude of determinants acting upon children to different degrees in different communities. The objective of this study was to determine maternal, environmental, and intraoral indicators of dental caries experience in a sample of 6- to 7-y-old children in South East Queensland, Australia.
Methods:
A total of 174 mother-child dyads were recruited for this cross-sectional study from the Griffith University Environments for Healthy Living birth cohort study. Maternal education, employment status, and prepregnancy body mass index were maternal indicators, and annual household income was taken as a proxy for environmental indicators. These were collected as baseline data of the study. Clinical data on children's dental caries experience, saliva characteristics of buffering capacity, stimulated flow rate, and colony-forming units per milliliter of salivary mutans streptococci were collected for the oral health substudy. Univariate analysis was performed with 1-way analysis of variance and chi-square tests. Caries experience was the outcome, which was classified into 4 categories based on the number of carious tooth surfaces. Ordinal logistic regression was used to explore the association of risk indicators with caries experience.
Results:
Age (P = 0.021), low salivary buffering capacity (P = 0.001), reduced levels of salivary flow rate (P = 0.011), past caries experience (P = 0.001), low annual household income; <$30,000 (P = 0.050) and <$60,000 (P = 0.033) and maternal employment status (P = 0.043) were associated with high levels of dental caries.
Conclusion:
These data support the evidence of associations between maternal, environmental, and children's intraoral characteristics and caries experience among children in a typical Western industrialized country. All of these need to be considered in preventative strategies within families and communities.
Knowledge Transfer Statement:
The results of this study can be used by clinicians, epidemiologists, and policy makers to identify children who are at risk of developing dental caries. With consideration of costs for treatment for the disease, this information could be used to plan cost-effective and patient-centered preventive care.
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