Abstract
BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to investigate the status of caries in deciduous teeth and the effect of diet and lifestyle habits on dental caries among 3- to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi Province, China.MethodsIn total, 2880 cases involving preschool children were selected by stratified cluster sampling. The dental examination methods and criteria followed the WHO guidelines. SPSS 19.0 was used for the statistical analysis. Chi square tests were used to compare the caries prevalence among children with different social characteristics. Non-parametric tests were used to compare the decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) index values. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to study the effect of diet and lifestyle habits on dental caries.ResultsThe caries prevalence among the 2880 cases of 3- to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi Province, China was 49.13%. There was no gender difference in this rate (P > 0.05). The caries prevalence increased with age (P < 0.05). The prevalence of caries in the rural areas was higher than that in the urban areas (P < 0.05). The deciduous central incisors and deciduous molars had a higher caries prevalence than the other deciduous teeth. According to the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the caries risk increased with living in a rural area, exclusive breastfeeding, greater frequency of daily snacking, high frequency of snacking before sleep and beginning to brush teeth at a late age; the caries risk decreased when parents helped their children brush their teeth.ConclusionThe caries prevalence among 3- to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi was lower than the level throughout the country and lower than the rate in other developing countries. The children’s diet and lifestyle habits were closely related to dental caries. Parents and children should be more aware of oral health, and parents should help their children develop healthy lifestyle behaviours.
Highlights
Caries is a common disease and is frequently encountered among preschool children in many countries [1, 2]
Zeng et al BMC Oral Health (2018) 18:224 advanced clinical treatment and filling materials are used to treat coresidential-pain problems, chewing difficulty caused by caries [8, 9] still affects the growth and quality of life of preschool children for a limited period [10,11,12]; starting from the source and preventing the production of dental caries is a better choice than caries treatment
We found that the dental caries prevalence of preschool children aged 3 to 5 years was 49.13% in Jiangxi province, which is higher than the prevalence in Thessaloniki, Greece, (20.20%) and in Bangalore, India (40%) [22, 23]
Summary
Caries is a common disease and is frequently encountered among preschool children in many countries [1, 2]. The parents’ education level and the family’s economic situation in the context of dental caries formation are difficult to change, but children’s oral health-related behaviours and lifestyle can be adjusted and managed by the caregiver, which inspires us to implement more behavioural interventions. This study can fill in gaps in these data and provide comparative data for similar future research It provides support for government departments to improve children’s oral health and formulate specific regional strategies for the prevention and control of dental caries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of caries in deciduous teeth and the effect of diet and lifestyle habits on dental caries among 3- to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi Province, China
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