Abstract
BackgroundEarly childhood caries (ECC) is a serious problem that has remained unexplored in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to identify possible socio-behavioral correlates of ECC focusing 6–36 months old children and their caretakers.MethodsCross sectional studies were conducted in a high fluoride rural area, Manyara, Tanzania and a low fluoride urban area, Kampala, Uganda. Totals of 1221 and 816 child - caretaker pairs attending health care facilities for growth monitoring were recruited in Manyara and Kampala, respectively. All caretakers completed face to face interviews at the health care facility. Children underwent oral clinical examination whereby ECC and Enamel hypoplasia were recorded using the dmft (WHO 1997) and the DDE index (FDI 1992).ResultsThe prevalence of ECC was 3.7% in Manyara and 17.6% in Kampala. According to multiple logistic regression analyses, received oral health information from health worker was the strongest determinant of ECC in Manyara, adjusted OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.09 – 0.93. In Kampala, visible plaque, high sugar intake and presence of enamel hypoplasia associated with ECC, adjusted ORs 2.8 (95% CI 1.61- 4.95), 3.0 (95% CI 1.39 – 6.34) and 2.3 (95% CI 1.36 - 3.95).ConclusionOral health education aimed at caretakers of 6–36 months, including health care workers’ information regarding the detrimental consequences for oral health of frequent sugar consumption and poor oral hygiene is important for prevention of ECC in Tanzania and Uganda.
Highlights
Childhood caries (ECC) is a serious problem that has remained unexplored in sub-Saharan Africa
Test-retest reliability of caregiver’s report on child’s sugar intake, in terms of Intra class correlation coefficients (ICC) was 0.96 in Manyara
In sum, this study showed that Early childhood caries (ECC) is present shortly after tooth eruption among infants in both high and low fluoridated areas of Manyara and Kampala
Summary
Childhood caries (ECC) is a serious problem that has remained unexplored in sub-Saharan Africa. Childhood caries (ECC) is a serious oral health problem, especially in socially disadvantaged populations [1,2,3,4]. Zhou et al [3] reported a prevalence of ECC of 26.6% among 2 year old children in Southern China. Kumarihamy et al [4] reported a prevalence of ECC in 1–2 year- olds in Sri Lanka of 32.1%. In 1994, Matee et al [13] reported the prevalence of ECC among 1–4 years old to range between 1.5% and 12.8% in 9 regions of mainland Tanzania
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