Exploring factors associated with traumatic dental injuries in preschool children: a Poisson regression analysis

Abstract

These findings indicate the need for preventive orientation regarding TDI, in order to educate parents and caregivers about supervising infants, particularly those with increased overjet and whose mothers have a higher level of education. Poisson regression with robust variance represents a better alternative than logistic regression to estimate the risk of dental trauma in preschool children.

Influence of clinical and socioeconomic indicators on dental trauma in preschool children

“…7 A mother's schooling exerted no influence on the occurrence of TDI. This finding is in agreement with data described in previous studies, 1,5,11,12 but differs from findings described in cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations carried out on Brazilian children, in which TDI was associated with a higher level of a mother's schooling in some studies, 14,15 and a lower level of a mother's schooling in others. 7 These differences may be attributed to how this variable is categorized.…”

“…However, other studies have found no association between TDI and monthly household income, as confirmed in multivariate analyses. 11,12,14,15,16 Multivariate analysis allows evaluating interactions among variables, which is an important aspect when studying conditions with multifactor etiology, such as TDI. Comparisons among studies must be done cautiously because of methodological differences.…”

“…7 These differences may be attributed to how this variable is categorized. In this study, a mother's schooling was dichotomized into two categories using eight years of study as the cutoff point, 11,14,15,16 whereas other studies have categorized a mother's schooling as elementary education, high school education or university education. 12 Moreover, one of the studies cited had a longitudinal design with follow-up beginning in the first year of the children's lives, 14 an aspect that limits comparisons with the present findings.…”

“…12 In the primary dentition, studies have investigated the association between TDI and proxy measures of socioeconomic status. While some investigations have found that household income 13 and a mother's education level 7,14,15 exert an influence on the occurrence of TDI in preschoolers, others have not found such associations (Table 1). 1,5,6,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 declaration of interests: The authors certify that they have no commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the manuscript.…”

“…Parents' schooling was evaluated based on the education level of both parents in some studies 11,12 and the education level of the mother alone in others. 1,5,7,14 Socioeconomic status has been evaluated based on household income 1,11,12,13,14,15,16 or on different validated indices. 6,7,15 The lack of a consensus regarding the influence of socioeconomic indicators on the occurrence of TDI underscores the need for further studies that can test this association to allow susceptible children to be identified and preventive measures to be established.…”