Oral health of young Alaska Native children and their caregivers in Southwestern Alaska.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine the prevalence of caries and associated risk factors in young Native children and their caregivers in two communities in rural Alaska.


METHODS
A random sample of Alaska Native children between 12-36 months and a subset of their caregivers from two Southwestern Alaska communities were examined for dental decay. Caregivers completed a 43-item questionnaire about oral hygiene, dietary and other practices.


RESULTS
Of the 65 children examined, 59% had evidence of decay. Among the 41 primary caregivers examined, 98% had experienced dental decay with an average of 11.4 decayed, missing, and filled teeth. On linear regression analyses, factors significantly associated with more decay in the children included a child taking a juice-containing bottle to bed, eating candy 1 or more times per day, and higher caregiver oral S. mutans counts.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that preventive efforts for children at high risk for dental decay should begin early in life, should emphasize decreasing candy and bedtime juice bottle use, and should consider the caregivers' oral health status in addition to the child's.
Lewis
Charlotte W
CW
Child Health Institute, Division of General Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-4920, USA. cwlewis@u.washington.edu
Riedy
Christine A
CA
Grossman
David C
DC
Domoto
Peter K
PK
Roberts
Marilyn C
MC
D000328:Adult; D000413:Alaska / Q000453:epidemiology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000208:ethnology*; D004037:Diet, Cariogenic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D004930:Inuit / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health / Q000592:standards*; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless