title: Early childhood caries: prevalence and risk factors in Seoul, Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC), including noncavitated lesions (d1), in children 6-59 months of age in relation to socioeconomic factors, feeding practices, and oral health behaviors in Seoul, Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  The children attended child care facilities and were selected from 32 primary sampling units. Two dentists examined 470 children. Parents of 383 of the subjects were interviewed by phone regarding caries risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For children 6-59 months of age, the prevalence of ECC and severe ECC were 56.5 percent and 47.0 percent respectively. In bivariate analysis, the children whose nursing bottle contained sweetened solution had higher severe ECC prevalence (P=.035), and children whose parents reported a lower frequency of between-meal snacks showed lower ECC prevalence (P=.046). By logistic regression analysis, age and frequency of between-meal snacks were associated with the prevalence of ECC (P<.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that the prevalence of ECC was high among children in Seoul. Early educational intervention programs for pregnant women and mothers of young children should be developed based on the risk factors identified in this study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Hygiene, Shingu College, Sungnam Kyunggi, South Korea.
authors.forename: Bo-Hyoung
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Deuk-Sang
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hyock-Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Dai-Il
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Se-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Alice M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Horowitz
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D019422:Dietary Sucrose