Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the impact of dietary habits on early childhood caries (ECC) in preschool children. We recruited 153 children between 30 and 71 months of age who applied to a state hospital dental clinic in Ankara, Turkey. The decayed-missing-filled teeth (dmft) index was calculated with a questionnaire that investigated the number of decayed, missing, and/or filled milk teeth. Participants formed three separate groups according to their caries history (Group 1: caries-free children, Group 2: children with ECC, Group 3: children with severe ECC [S-ECC]). The mean dmft score was 4.0 ± 3.9, and 20.2% of children were in caries-free group ( n = 31), 45.8% were in ECC group ( n = 70), and 34.0% were in S-ECC group ( n = 52). The carbonated beverage consumption and the dmft index score was directly proportional ( p < .05). Besides, there was a significant correlation between anti-cariogenic foods such as milk and eggs and dmft index score ( p < .05). S-ECC was associated with higher consumption of French fries (β = .052; 95% Cl −0.141, 1.827) and lower consumption of egg (β = −0.052; 95% Cl −0.103, 0.001). Consequently, the fast-food-style Western diet was closely related to tooth decay, and healthy dietary habits such as the Mediterranean-style diet may provide crucial protection against dental caries in preschool children.
Highlights
Childhood dental caries is an infectious disease with multifactor etiology, and it is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting children worldwide (Mulu et al, 2014)
The mean dmft score was 4.0 ± 3.9, and 20.2% of children were in caries-free group (n = 31), 45.8% were in early childhood caries (ECC) group (n = 70), and 34.0% were in S-ECC group (n = 52)
There was a significant association between the maternal education level and dental caries groups (p < .05)
Summary
Childhood dental caries is an infectious disease with multifactor etiology, and it is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting children worldwide (Mulu et al, 2014). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2015) targets 80% of caries and periodontal disease-free children in the 5 to 6 years age population. Despite the successful trends of reduced dental caries in developed countries’ reports (Moynihan & Kelly, 2014), Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health et al (2014) reported dental caries as one of the three most common diseases in preschool children. An Oral Health Survey in Turkey revealed that the prevalence of dental caries was 69.8% and the dmft was 3.7 ± 3.9 (Güçiz & Kuvvetli, 2014). The rate was higher compared with the developed countries such as England, Germany, and Denmark (Grund et al, 2015; Pitts et al, 2007; Wang et al, 2018)
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