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Article

Severe early childhood caries and behavioral risk factors among 3-year-old children in Lithuania

Department of Oral Health and Pediatric Dentistry, Kaunas University of Medicine, Lithuania
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Submission received: 15 June 2008 / Accepted: 5 February 2010 / Published: 10 February 2010

Abstract

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.
Material and 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.
Keywords: severe early childhood caries; dmft; toothbrushing, breast-feeding; behavioral risk factors severe early childhood caries; dmft; toothbrushing, breast-feeding; behavioral risk factors

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MDPI and ACS Style

Slabšinskienė, E.; Milčiuvienė, S.; Narbutaitė, J.; Vasiliauskienė, I.; Andruškevičienė, V.; Bendoraitienė, E.-A.; Saldūnaitė, K. Severe early childhood caries and behavioral risk factors among 3-year-old children in Lithuania. Medicina 2010, 46, 135. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/medicina46020020

AMA Style

Slabšinskienė E, Milčiuvienė S, Narbutaitė J, Vasiliauskienė I, Andruškevičienė V, Bendoraitienė E-A, Saldūnaitė K. Severe early childhood caries and behavioral risk factors among 3-year-old children in Lithuania. Medicina. 2010; 46(2):135. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/medicina46020020

Chicago/Turabian Style

Slabšinskienė, Eglė, Simona Milčiuvienė, Julija Narbutaitė, Ingrida Vasiliauskienė, Vilija Andruškevičienė, Eglė-Aida Bendoraitienė, and Kristina Saldūnaitė. 2010. "Severe early childhood caries and behavioral risk factors among 3-year-old children in Lithuania" Medicina 46, no. 2: 135. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/medicina46020020

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