Stepwise Prediction of Dental Caries in Children up to 3.5 Years of Age

Abstract

The present study is a part of a prospective, longitudinal investigation of caries development in children (n = 692) living in the southern suburbs of Stockholm. The aim was to evaluate, longitudinally, the caries-predictive ability of variables describing social and immigrant background, dietary habits, microbial and oral hygiene factors, and fluoride exposure in children at 1 and 2.5 years of age with respect to caries development before the age of 3.5. The predictors for caries development in children before 2.5 years of age were mutans streptococci (p < 0.01), immigrant background (p < 0.01), and consumption of candy (p < 0.01). The predictors for developing manifest caries between 2.5 and 3.5 years of age were mutans streptococci (p < 0.001), mother’s education (p < 0.001), immigrant background (p < 0.01), and consumption of candy (p < 0.05) and sugar-containing beverages (p < 0.05). The caries incidence at 2.5 years of age as well as the caries increment between 2.5 and 3.5 years of age were significantly higher in children with immigrant background compared to nonimmigrants. This study indicates that the possibility of identifying children at risk for caries development increases longitudinally from 1 to 3.5 years of age and there was a synergistic effect between age and each predictor.

Oral health in preschool children with asthma

“…These factors are well-known risk factors for caries development in young pre-school children [22,25,26]. However, none of these risk factors showed an increased risk of caries development in 3-year-olds without asthma.…”

Macronutrients and type 1 diabetes (revision number 6)

“…Two studies that adjust for tooth brushing indicate an association between greater consumption of sugars confectionery and greater risk of dental caries at 3.5 years and 18 months (Grindefjord et al, 1995;Grindefjord et al, 1996;Sakuma et al, 2007). The three other studies that adjust for tooth brushing indicate no significant association between consumption of sugars-sweetened food or sweet confectionery and dental caries (Grytten et al, 1988;Tada et al, 1999;Mariri et al, 2003).…”

“…Seven cohort studies in eleven publications were identified that presented evidence on the relationship between sugars-containing beverage consumption and the incidence of dental caries in deciduous dentition in children, all of which adjusted their results for tooth brushing (Grytten et al, 1988;Grindefjord et al, 1995;Grindefjord et al, 1996;Tada et al, 1999;Levy et al, 2003;Mariri et al, 2003;Sakuma et al, 2007;Ismail et al, 2008;Warren et al, 2008;Lim et al, 2008;Ismail et al, 2009). Three cohorts were reported in more than one publication: (Grindefjord et al, 1995;Grindefjord et al, 1996) reported on one cohort; Lim et al, 2008;Ismail et al, 2009) reported on one cohort; and (Mariri et al, 2003;Levy et al, 2003) reported on one cohort.…”

“…An association is indicated between greater consumption of sugars-containing beverages and increased dental caries incidence in deciduous dentition in five cohort studies (Grindefjord et al, 1995;Grindefjord et al, 1996;Levy et al, 2003;Mariri et al, 2003;Sakuma et al, 2007;Ismail et al, 2008;Warren et al, 2008;Lim et al, 2008;Ismail et al, 2009). The two other cohort studies observe no significant association between sugars-containing beverage consumption and the development of dental caries at 36 months (Grytten et al, 1988) or between-meal sweet drink intake and 18 months dental caries increment in deciduous dentition (Tada et al, 1999).…”

“…Eleven cohort studies were identified that presented evidence on the relationship between the amount of sugars-containing foods and/or sugars confectionery consumed and the incidence of dental caries in deciduous dentition in children, five of which adjusted their results for tooth brushing (Grytten et al, 1988;Grindefjord et al, 1995;Grindefjord et al, 1996;Tada et al, 1999;Levy et al, 2003;Mariri et al, 2003;Sakuma et al, 2007) and six of which did not (Persson et al, 1985;Wilson & Ashley, 1989;Holbrook, 1993;Holbrook et al, 1995;Pienihakkinen et al, 2004;Law & Seow, 2006) Two cohorts were reported in more than one publication: (Grindefjord et al, 1995;Grindefjord et al, 1996) reported on one cohort; and (Mariri et al, 2003;Levy et al, 2003) reported on one cohort. The data on measures of dietary exposure, caries incidence/prevalence and risk assessment methods were insufficiently comparable to enable a meta-analysis to be performed.…”