Social and biological early life influences on severity of dental caries in children aged 6 years.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between social and biological conditions experienced in very early life and dental caries in children aged 6 years.


METHODS
The design was a dental caries cross-sectional study nested in a birth cohort study started in Pelotas, Brazil, in 1993. The cross-sectional study was carried out in 1999. A random sample of 400 6-year-old children was selected from among 5249 live births in 1993. The World Health Organization (1997) criteria were used to diagnose dental caries. Results from the oral health study were linked to the data concerning perinatal and childhood health and illnesses and family social conditions collected at birth, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, and in the sixth year of life. Dental caries was the outcome measured at two levels of severity (very low: dmft < or = 1; high: dmft > or = 4). Unconditional univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed.


RESULTS
Self-employed and employees/unemployed, fathers with <8 years of education at time child was born, child's height deficit for age at 12 months; child who did not attend day care centre in sixth year of life; brushing teeth less than once a day, and children with sweet consumption of at least once a day at 6 years were risk factors for high dental caries after controlling for possible confounders.


CONCLUSIONS
Harmful social and biological risk factors accumulated in early life contributed to the development of a high level of dental caries in childhood.
Peres
Marco Aurélio
MA
Department of Public Health, Federal University of Santa Catarina, 88010-970 Florianópolis, Brazil. mperes@ccs.ufsc.br
de Oliveira Latorre
Maria do Rosário Dias
Mdo R
Sheiham
Aubrey
A
Peres
Karen Glazer
KG
Barros
Fernando C
FC
Hernandez
Pedro Gonzales
PG
Maas
Angela Maria Nunes
AM
Romano
Ana Regina
AR
Victora
Cesar Gomes
CG
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors