Research Paper: The relationship between child temperament and early childhood caries in 3 to 6 year-old children

Abstract

Introduction: The etiology of Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is very complex and includes biological, behavioral, social and demographic factors. Regarding the importance of evaluating the factors affecting ECC, the present research was aimed to evaluate the relationship between temperament and ECC. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 150 children referred to kindergartens in Rasht. The Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) was used to evaluate the temperament of children and clinical examinations were used to evaluate ECC. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software version 24 and at a significance level of 5%. Results: The descriptive findings showed that the temperament score in girls was higher than in boys. Also, temperament score, activity level, smile, perceptual sensitivity, and pleasure intensity had a negative and significant relationship with decay-missing-filled teeth (DMFT) and decay-missing-filled surface (DMFS) indices. Only the inhibitory control subscale had a positive and significant relationship with these two criteria. The subscales of discomfort, positive anticipation, and reactivity had a significant and negative relationship with DMFT. There was a positive and statistically significant relationship between the number of brushing times a day with inhibitory control, sadness, focusing, smile, perceptual sensitivity, pleasure intensity, reactivity, and temperament. Conclusion: According to the results, temperament must be considered as an effective factor in ECC. Temperament and subscales of activity level, discomfort, inhibitory control, smile, positive anticipation, reactivity, perceptual sensitivity, and pleasure intensity were identified as the factors affecting ECC.