Social aspects of dental caries in the context of mother-child pairs

Abstract

The relationship between mother and child in the context of oral health has traditionally been exposed by the scientific literature in microbiology, which lacks a broad and necessary discussion of health and illness seen as processes, both biological and social. ObjectiveInvestigate the family social determinants associated with the caries history of children and the need for dental treatment (NDT) among their mothers was the objective of this study. Material and methodsThis research employed a cross-sectional study of mother-child pairs living in southern Brazil. Data collection occurred in public institutions of early childhood education. The instruments included a structured questionnaire administered to mothers and clinical oral examinations of the mothers and children. The social variables considered were marital status, maternal education, number of children, income, employment status, and frequency of visits to a dental professional. The measured outcomes were the maternal NDT and child caries history. Data were analyzed by the chi-square test (χ2) and by discriminant analysis. ResultsThe final sample consisted of 272 mother-child pairs and it was found that the greatest need for treatment was among mothers with low educational level and low family income who rarely or never visited a dentist. Tooth decay was less frequent in only child, and most frequent in children of mothers with low educational attainment, and in children in lower income households who rarely or never visited the dentist. The social determinants of caries in children and of the maternal NDT were similar. It follows that the maternal NDT and caries history among children were strongly associated with maternal education (p<0.0001), household income (p<0.0001), and frequency of visits to a dental professional (0.0018). Caries history among children was also associated with number of children in the household (p<0.0001).ConclusionsThe results suggest that the caries experience in children depended less on the family social variables than on the maternal NDT.

Longitudinal study into the determining factors of dental caries in children aged 4: socio-behavioral aspects and oral health of pregnant women

“…In order to calculate the sample size of the finite population, the prevalence of caries in deciduous teeth was taken into consideration, 35% according to the literature 9 , adopting a level of significance of 5%, an absolute sampling error of 6.4% and a finite population during the period of study (March to July 2007). Those pregnant women who agreed to take part in the study by signing an informed consent form and who were in the last trimester of pregnancy and who did not have multiple births, were included in the study.…”

“…Influences in the early years of life may have a significant effect on the health of the deciduous and permanent dentitions 6 . Early identification of key factors in oral health makes it possible to carry out primary care in pregnancy and in early infancy, with the aim of preventing diseases that harm children's development from taking root 3,[7][8][9] . The mother's lifestyle, including habits such as sugar intake between meals, cariogenic diet during pregnancy and oral hygiene can all have an influence on the experience of caries in their children.…”

“…With regard to the development of caries, some factors are known and have been well studied, such as: mother's level of schooling, family income, marital status, mother's age at time of birth, however our understanding of the influence of the child's birth weight, the mother's gestational age, place of residence, lifestyle and behavior is still limited [7][8][9][10] . There have been few studies 8,[10][11] into factors related to caries in children below the age of four and the majority [6][7][12][13][14][15][16] are designed to study the etiology of this affliction in older, pre-school children, for example.…”

“…There have been few studies 8,[10][11] into factors related to caries in children below the age of four and the majority [6][7][12][13][14][15][16] are designed to study the etiology of this affliction in older, pre-school children, for example. Most of the studies 3,9,[12][13][15][16][17] analyzing caries in children and their oral health condition, as well as the behavioral condition of the mother, were conducted using a crosssectional design. Thus, the aim of this longitudinal study was to analyze the influence of oral health conditions and socio-behavioral characteristics of pregnant women on the development and experience of caries in their children, after 4 years of follow-up.…”

Relationship between Perception of Oral Health, Clinical Conditions and Socio-Behavioral Factors of Mother-Child

“…To calculate the sample size, the prevalence of caries in deciduous teeth was considered, according to the literature in 35% [14], the significance level (α = 0.05), the absolute sampling error (6.4%) and the finite population during the study period (MarchJuly 2007) (N = 120) [13].…”