[Factors determining dental plaque and their relation to the assessment of caries among 7-year-old Flemish children].
The present investigation aimed to assess the impact of a number of variables on the variation on the amount of dental plaque present in the mixed dentition of 7-year-old Flemish children and to investigate a potential correlation between caries experience and the amount of dental plaque. Analyses were performed with ordinal plaque index as outcome measure, considering the children's school (i.e. class) as a random effect. This random effect turned out to be of great importance when dealing with large clustered samples. From the multiple logistic regression analysis, it was concluded that the older the subjects the more dental plaque was observed (or = 1.35; CI: 1.08-1.68; P = 0.0081). Four exploratory variables, could be identified as important risk indicators for dental plaque accumulation in the mixed dentition: 'start of brushing after the age of 2 years' (or = 1.161; CI: 1.09-1.23; P < 0.0001), 'brushing frequency of < 1 x/day (or = 1.37; CI: 1.12-1.66; P = 0.0019), more than two in between meal snacks (or = 1.18; CI: 1.03-1.36; P = 0.02) and daily intake of sugar containing drinks (or = 1.24; CI: 1.08-1.42; P = 0.002). Further, being male was linked to a higher amount of plaque (or = 1.16; CI: 1.00-1.34; P = 0.0506). Finally a weak but significant correlation (spearman's rho: r = 0.23; P < 0.0001) between caries experience and the amount of cervical plaque was shown.
Martens
L
L
Universiteit Gent Kindertandheelkunde, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Gent.
Leroy
R
R
Declerck
D
D
Vanobbergen
J
J
Lesaffre
E
E
D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D003818:Dentition, Mixed; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005459:Fluorides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D005459:Fluorides