Related Experiment Videos
Relationship between mothers' gingival condition and caries experience of their 3-year-old children
H Sasahara1, M Kawamura, K Kawabata
1Department of Preventive Dentistry, Hiroshima University School of Dentistry, Japan.
Objectives:
The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mothers' gingival condition (an assumed indicator of their self-care level) and the prevalence and severity of dental caries of their children.
Sample And Methods:
Subjects comprised 1471 pairs of mothers and their children who attended for the 3-year-old dental check-up at a community health centre in Hiroshima. The mothers' gingival condition was scored as 'excellent (+2)', 'good (+1)', 'questionable (0)', 'poor (-1)' or 'very poor (-2)' according to the criteria of the Oral Rating Index (ORI). Caries experience of the children was recorded using the WHO caries diagnostic criteria for dmft.
Results:
The percentage of caries-free children was 51.3%, and the mean dmft score was 2.61. The percentages of caries-free were higher and the mean dmft level were lower in the children of mothers with better gingival condition compared to the children of mothers with worse gingival condition.
Conclusions:
Mothers' gingival condition was associated with the prevalence and severity of dental caries of their children.