Indicators of Risk for Dental Caries in Children: A Holistic Approach

Abstract

Background Dental caries in children is a major public health problem worldwide, with a multitude of determinants acting upon children to different degrees in different communities. The objective of this study was to determine maternal, environmental, and intraoral indicators of dental caries experience in a sample of 6- to 7-y-old children in South East Queensland, Australia. Methods: A total of 174 mother-child dyads were recruited for this cross-sectional study from the Griffith University Environments for Healthy Living birth cohort study. Maternal education, employment status, and prepregnancy body mass index were maternal indicators, and annual household income was taken as a proxy for environmental indicators. These were collected as baseline data of the study. Clinical data on children’s dental caries experience, saliva characteristics of buffering capacity, stimulated flow rate, and colony-forming units per milliliter of salivary mutans streptococci were collected for the oral health substudy. Univariate analysis was performed with 1-way analysis of variance and chi-square tests. Caries experience was the outcome, which was classified into 4 categories based on the number of carious tooth surfaces. Ordinal logistic regression was used to explore the association of risk indicators with caries experience. Results: Age ( P = 0.021), low salivary buffering capacity ( P = 0.001), reduced levels of salivary flow rate ( P = 0.011), past caries experience ( P = 0.001), low annual household income; <$30,000 (P = 0.050) and <$60,000 (P = 0.033) and maternal employment status ( P = 0.043) were associated with high levels of dental caries. Conclusion These data support the evidence of associations between maternal, environmental, and children’s intraoral characteristics and caries experience among children in a typical Western industrialized country. All of these need to be considered in preventative strategies within families and communities. Knowledge Transfer Statement: The results of this study can be used by clinicians, epidemiologists, and policy makers to identify children who are at risk of developing dental caries. With consideration of costs for treatment for the disease, this information could be used to plan cost-effective and patient-centered preventive care.

Salivary levels of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli and other salivary indices in patients wearing clear aligners versus fixed orthodontic appliances: An observational study

“…Regarding the buffering power of saliva, described in Table 4, the present survey data show that it remained stable over time in both the two groups, as expected, because this is a physical property of saliva. It prevents the colonization of pathogenic microorganisms in the mouth and neutralizes acids produced by acidogenic bacteria, and enamel demineralization [10,16]. The present data confirm previous reports in literature, which used the same methods to evaluate the buffering capacity of saliva in the course of removable orthodontic treatment [5] and with passive self-ligating brackets [6] and reported no change for this parameter over the follow up period.…”

“…The salivary samples were analyzed by CRT1 prevention system (Ivoclar Vivadent Clinical, Schaan, Liechtenstein). the CRT1 buffer system was used to evaluate salivary flow and saliva buffering power, and the CRT1 bacteria was employed for the bacterial count, as previously published [6,10]. At each of the follow-up appointments participants were recommended to refrain from eating, drinking alcohol and brushing their teeth for at least one hour prior to the visit, as all these actions could alter the average salivary flow.…”

Temporal development of the oral microbiome and prediction of early childhood caries

“…It is likely therefore that salivary levels of S. mutans , as well as others including S. sobrinus and V. parvula , are a useful prognostic biomarker for imminent enamel demineralisation in children from 18 months to four years-of-age. Although this association has been shown previously the majority of studies specifically targeted S. mutans using PCR or culture, were cross sectional or both 41,42 . Our study using a prospective cohort study design and a relatively unbiased, open end methodology was able to examine the associations of the majority of bacterial species in saliva with disease over time.…”

Yarning about oral health: perceptions of urban Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women

“…Understanding how women experience oral health across their life course has important implications, not only for them, but for those they care for as well. Poor oral health during pregnancy has been linked to low birth weight, preeclampsia and preterm birth [12] and maternal social determinants influence health-literacy, health-seeking behaviours, dietary knowledge and family oral health habits [13][14][15][16].…”