The status and associated factors of earlychildren caries among Preschoolchildren in Chongming islet， China: across-sectional survey

Abstract

Background: Dental caries of preschool children (Early Children Caries, ECC) has become a crucial oral health problem. The aim of this research was to investigate the prevalence of dental caries among preschool children from Chongming islet and analyze the related factors. Methods: A total of 939 preschool children from 5 kindergartens in Chongming islet of China were selected by random sampling method from January to April 2022 to study the incidence of dental caries and related risk factors. Results: The prevalence of ECC in Chongming islet was 45.69%, the mean dmft was 2.911±1.568. In multivariable modeling, eating dessert between meals or before sleeping (OR=3.049, P <0.001), sweetened milk (OR=2.389, P =0.027), the caregiver had dental caries (OR=1.888, P <0.001), age of children (OR=1.758, P <0.001),preference of beverages (OR = 1.250, p = 0.029), and frequency of snacking (OR = 1.191, p = 0.034) are independent risk factors for the development of ECC, brushing teeth time of children (OR = 0.765, p = 0.77) and caregivers help children brushing teeth or check children brushing effect (OR = 0.788, P =0.066) were protective factors for children's dental caries. Conclusions: Children should reduce the frequency of eating snacks, reduce the consumption of sugary beverages, sweet food, and train children to brush their teeth correctly, ensure the effect of brushing teeth, urge children to develop good oral hygiene habits, which is helpful to reduce the risk of dental caries in children.