Severe early childhood caries and behavioral risk factors among 3-year-old children in Lithuania.
The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of early childhood caries (ECC) and severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) in 3-year-old Lithuanian children. The impact of selected behavioral risk factors on the development of S-ECC was investigated.


METHODS
A total of 950 children were examined in kindergartens. Diagnosis of dental caries followed the WHO criteria. Questionnaires were delivered to mothers of the children with S-ECC and caries-free children. The questions were related to the children's dietary habits, temperament, oral hygiene, and the use of fluoride toothpaste.


RESULTS
The prevalence of ECC was 50.6% with a mean dmft of 2.1 (SD, 0.1) and a mean dmfs of 3.4 (SD, 0.2). The prevalence of S-ECC was 6.5% with a mean dmft of 7.8 (SD, 0.1) and dmfs of 18.1 (SD, 0.6). A significantly higher percentage of children developed S-ECC when they were breast-fed for a period longer than one year, were sleeping with a bottle containing carbohydrates during the night, or were allowed to sip from a bottle either going to sleep or during the day. A significantly higher percentage of mothers having caries-free children knew about risk factors of S-ECC and started tooth brushing after the eruption of the first tooth. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the use of fluoride toothpaste.


CONCLUSIONS
Improper infant bottle-feeding habits and no tooth brushing were found to be significant for the development of S-ECC among 3-year-old Lithuanian children.
Slabsinskiene
Egle
E
Department of Oral Health and Pediatric Dentistry, Kaunas University of Medicine, J. Luksos-Daumanto 6, Kaunas, Lithuania. egleslabsinskiene@yahoo.com
Milciuviene
Simona
S
Narbutaite
Julija
J
Vasiliauskiene
Ingrida
I
Andruskeviciene
Vilija
V
Bendoraitiene
Egle Aida
EA
Saldūnaite
Kristina
K
D000367:Age Factors; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008097:Lithuania / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014099:Toothbrushing