Determinants of Dental Caries in Children Aged 7-12 Years in Iran: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background: Oral health is one of the most important dimensions of individual health. Various epidemiological studies are necessary to determine the effectiveness of prevention and oral health programs in a community. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine some of the factors associated with dental caries in primary school students in 2019.Methods: In this case-control study, information about students with dental caries and controls was extracted by referring to schools in the four education districts of Hamadan (A girls 'school and a boys' school were selected from each district). The total sample size was 980 people that 30 cases and 90 controls were selected from each school. For determining dental carrier status a final year dental student examined the students. Logistic regression model was used to evaluate the risk factors for the disease. All analyzes of this study were analyzed using Stata version 14 software.Results: The mean dmft in primary school students in Hamadan was 1.86 ± 2.92. Significant risk factors for dental carrier based on the multivariable logistic regression model were having toothache, lack of Parental supervision, Parental illiteracy, parental self-employed, and increase the family dimension. Our findings also show that increasing the use of dental floss, mouthwash, increasing visits to the dentist, and increasing dairy consumption reduce the risk of tooth decay (P-value for all variables < 0.05).Conclusion: This study highlighted the factors associated with the occurrence of dental carries. These findings may help guide recommendations for the protection of high-risk groups.