Are maternal factors predictors of a child's first dental visit? A birth cohort study in Brazil

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between maternal factors and dental visits of children within their first year of life. This study used data from the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort and included pregnant women and their children at 12 months of age, followed-up between May 2014 and December 2015. Socioeconomic and demographic data, information on the use of dental services during the last year, and information on dental fear were collected by interviewing the mothers. Information regarding dental caries and periodontal disease were collected during the mother's clinical examination. The date of each child's first visit to the dentist was recorded. Crude and adjusted Poisson regression models with robust variance were used. The sample comprised 2,287 mother-child dyads, of which 10.1% of children visited the dentist during the first year of life. Children whose mothers visited the dentist within the last year for preventive reasons (RR: 1.51; 95%CI: 1.12-2.03) or curative reasons (RR: 1.47; 95%CI: 1.08-2.01) were more likely to have visited the dentist during the first year of life compared to those whose mothers had not used dental services during this period. Maternal tooth loss was inversely associated with a child's visit to the dentist during the first year of life (RR: 0.69; 95%CI: 0.54-0.89). Considering the mother's history of using dental services, as well as their dental caries history, is necessary to understand and improve patterns of dental health care utilization and implement public oral health policies for young children.