BackgroundWith rapid urbanization in China, an increasing number of rural adults have migrated to cities to seek job opportunities, leaving their school-aged children behind. These left-behind children (LBC) without one or both parents usually receive less attention from their caregivers. Whether the parental migration affects the children’s oral health is not well understood. This study aimed to explore the differences in dental caries status and oral health-related behaviors between children with different parental migration experiences in a rural area of Southern China.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Luchuan County of Guangxi Province in 2015. A total of 1085 school children aged 8–12 participated in this study. Participants’ demographic characteristics, parental migration information, and eating and oral hygiene habits were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Dental caries of permanent teeth was examined using the decayed, missing, and filled tooth (DMFT) index recommended by the World Health Organization. Dental caries experience and oral health-related behaviors were compared between LBC and non-LBC, as well as children with different experiences of parental migrations. The impact of various parental migration attributes on LBC oral health outcomes was examined by univariate and multivariate analyses.ResultsAmong the school-aged children examined, 60.9% of them were LBC. Only 29.7% of the children brushed their teeth regularly; 86.5% of them did not know what fluoride toothpaste was. Caries prevalence was 51.4% for LBC and 40.8% for non-LBC (p < 0.001). The LBC experienced a greater DMFT mean (1.20 ± 1.59) compared to the non-LBC (0.85 ± 1.30) (p < 0.001). Oral health-related behaviors were not significantly different between LBC and non-LBC. Dental caries experience and oral health-related behaviors were not related to the type or duration of parental migration. Multiple regression analyses showed that parental migration was one of significant predictors of children’s caries outcome; LBC had a higher risk to caries than non-LBC (95% CI =1.26, 2.09).ConclusionsThese findings indicate that parental migration could be a significant risk factor for caries development among 8- to 12-year-old school children in rural China.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12903-018-0683-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Introduction: Pediatric dental management is difficult in its own way which was even more challenging during COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown period. Constrained dental providing clinics and hospitals severely compromised the pediatric dental needs and services. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe pattern of dental emergencies encountered and services provided to the pediatric patients visiting a dental hospital during the first lockdown period in Kathmandu, Nepal. Methods: A cross sectional study was done from 24 March 2020 to 21 July 2020 among the pediatric patients who visited dental hospital during lockdown. Data was collected from questionnaire and dental case history sheet, and statistically analyzed in Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results: Of the total 172 pediatric patients of mean age 8.3± 2.60 years, majority were males (59.3%) and of 6-12 age group (76.2%). Major complain was mobile/retained teeth (38.4%) and most common diagnosis was exfoliating mobility (23.3%). According to American Dental Association (ADA, 2020) guidelines, urgent dental care (46.5%) followed by non-emergency dental care (43.6%) were mostly found. The predominant procedures were emergency (68.6%) and least was elective (9.3%) and treatment given to majority was extraction (51.8%).There was a statistically significant association between age group and pediatric dental care (ADA). Conclusions: The findings of this study regarding dental emergency encountered and definitive treatment received even during pandemic lockdown can be helpful in finding out how dental care was provided and can be applicable in similar future pandemics.