Association of caries increment in preschool children with nutritional and preventive variables

Abstract

There must be a stronger focus on families of low socioeconomic status when preventive measures are performed on groups or individuals.

Young children and snacks – is tooth brushing alone not enough to prevent tooth decay?

“…Overall, the study by Skafida and Chambers (2017) demonstrated that teeth brushing does not fully protect against the negative effect of frequent and long-term consumption of snack foods/drinks high in free sugars on dental health in children under 5 years, and that parental socioeconomic status and a dietary pattern that includes frequent snacking were significant risk factors in tooth decay development. The results are in line with previous longitudinal studies showing that dietary habits in the early years can have a significantly detrimental effect on children's dental health in the early years, and that children from families of low socioeconomic status are at higher risk of tooth decay compared to those from high socioeconomic backgrounds (Winter et al 2015;Anil & Anand 2017;Cabral et al 2017). Research on snacking and dental health in young children is limited; however, Skafida and Chambers' (2017) findings are consistent with other studies showing that frequent consumption of high fat, sugars and salt snack foods between meals was associated with an increased risk of tooth decay (Johansson et al 2010;Bonotto et al 2017).…”

“…The results are in line with previous longitudinal studies showing that dietary habits in the early years can have a significantly detrimental effect on children's dental health in the early years, and that children from families of low socioeconomic status are at higher risk of tooth decay compared to those from high socioeconomic backgrounds (Winter et al . ; Anil & Anand ; Cabral et al . ).…”

Effect of Toothbrushing Frequency on Incidence and Increment of Dental Caries

“…Three studies (Grindefjord et al 1995;Leroy et al 2005;Wong et al 2012) considered toothbrushing frequency and fluoride in toothpaste as separate variables and found that the effect of the type of toothpaste was insignificant while infrequent toothbrushing frequency was associated with the incidence of carious lesions. Two studies (Wendt et al 1994;Winter et al 2015) found both frequent brushing and the presence of fluoride in toothpaste to be associated with decreased incidence of carious lesions.…”

Identification of caries risk in 2‐year‐olds

“…Children with immigrant background and children of parents with low educational level have been shown to have higher caries prevalence than other children . Toothbrushing frequency and sugar intake are associated with caries development in young children . Some studies have reported that the presence of dental plaque and caries in early childhood was associated with caries increment during preschool age …”