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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Dent. Med
Sec. Pediatric Dentistry
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fdmed.2024.1473194
This article is part of the Research Topic Impact of Family Health and Habits on Children's Oral Health View all 4 articles

Family factors associated with dental caries among 5-year-old

Provisionally accepted
Giovanna Castilho Giovanna Castilho 1Marília Pessoa Marília Pessoa 1Caroline de Oliveira Caroline de Oliveira 1Letícia de Melo Letícia de Melo 1Elaine Tagliaferro Elaine Tagliaferro 2Vanessa Pardi Vanessa Pardi 3*
  • 1 Department of Morphology and Children's Clinic, São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araraquara, Brazil
  • 2 Department of Community Dentistry, São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araraquara, Brazil
  • 3 School of Dental Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Although dental caries is largely preventable, it remains highly prevalent among children. Aim: Evaluate family factors associated with the prevalence of dental caries in 5-year-old children. Design: This cross-sectional study recruited 5-year-old children from public preschools in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil. Data on sociodemographic factors, family routines, and oral health practices were gathered via a self-administered questionnaire completed independently by caregivers. Children received a dental clinical examination at school and caries experience was recorded using the dmft and SiC (Significant Caries index) indexes following the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Results: Data analysis was performed using Chi-square and multiple logistic regression using a significance level of 5%. Of the 578 children in the study, 67.3% were caries-free. The mean dmft index was 1.14 (SD=2.24), while the SiC index stood at 3.46 (2.69). Factors such as income, caregiver assistance with toothbrushing, caregiver perception of child and parent oral health, and prioritization of dental visits within the family were associated with caries presence. Conclusions: Overall, dental caries prevalence was low in this population, with family factors demonstrating significant associations with dental caries. The attitudes of caregivers regarding oral health appear to wield considerable influence over the dental health of their children.

    Keywords: Dental Caries, Family, oral health perception, Oral Health, Toothbrushing

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 26 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Castilho, Pessoa, de Oliveira, de Melo, Tagliaferro and Pardi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Vanessa Pardi, School of Dental Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, United States

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