Dental Caries Status and Related Factors in 18-72 Month-old children at Regional Health Promotion Center 5 Nakhon Ratchasima

Abstract

This is cross sectional study. Objective: To evaluate dental caries status and their related factors in children at Regional Health Promotion Center 5 Nakhon Ratchasima. Material and Method: One hundred and thirty four children at dental clinic with 18-72 month-old (mean age=47.52 month) were sampled. Caries and plaque examination of children and their mothers were conducted. All parent completed the questionnaires regarding demographic data of children and parent, dietary and feeding habit, oral hygiene care and child’s dental visit. Result: Twenty eight percent of children were caries free and the mean dmft of children was 7.06+6.15. Almost twenty six percent of children had dmft ranging from 6 to 10. Five statistically significantly protective factors for dental caries were found in analysis. They were fluoride supplementation, having water fed after bottle feeding, cleaning oral cavities for babies under one year of age, having milk as snack and mother’s level of education beyond high school. Three factors found to be positively associated with dental caries were having sweet and desserts regularly, having bottle held in the mouth while sleeping, and plaque accumulation. Using multivariate model for prediction of dental caries among studied children, having bottle held in the mouth while sleeping was the only significant predictor in the study model. Conclusion: The bottle held in the mouth while sleeping is the only significant risk factor for dental caries in the studied children.