Determinants of ECC in Sardinian preschool children.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to assess the influence of determinants on the presence of caries in pre-school children.


METHODS
A matched case-control study (1:2) was designed: 55 children (32 males, 23 females) with at least one buccal or lingual caries lesion on one primary maxillary incisor were selected (caries affected=1) and compared to randomly selected controls (no caries=0) paired for age and gender. Several variables concerning oral hygiene habits, use of fluoride supplementation, dietary habits, socio-economic status of the family and lifestyle factors were considered as risk predictors for early childhood caries (ECC). A conditional logistic regression model was used to perform matched case-control analysis.


RESULTS
Bottle feeding at night (OR=1.90; 95%CI=1.03-3.50) and socio-economic level (OR=1.69; 95%CI=1.01-2.81) were positively associated with case status.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that ECC seemed to be associated with bottle feeding at night and a low socio-economic level.
Campus
G
G
Dental Institute, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy. gcampus@uniss.it
Solinas
G
G
Sanna
A
A
Maida
C
C
Castiglia
P
P
D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005459:Fluorides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000379:methods; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D005459:Fluorides