Factors associated with dental caries in primary dentition in a non-fluoridated rural community of New South Wales, Australia

Amit Arora, Narendar Manohar, James Rufus John

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Dental caries persists as one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among children worldwide. This study aims to determine factors that influence dental caries in primary dentition among primary school children residing in the rural non-fluoridated community of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. A total of 495 children aged 5–10 years old from all the six primary schools in Lithgow were approached to participate in a cross-sectional survey prior to implementation of water fluoridation in 2014. Following parental consent, children were clinically examined for caries in their primary teeth, and parents were requested to complete a questionnaire on previous fluoride exposure, diet and relevant socio-demographic characteristics that influence oral health. Multiple logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the independent risk factors of primary dentition caries. Overall, 51 percent of children had dental caries in one or more teeth. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, child’s age (Adjusted Odd’s Ratio (AOR) = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.14–1.49) and mother’s extraction history (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.40–3.00) were significantly associated with caries experience in the child’s primary teeth. In addition, each serve of chocolate consumption was associated with 52 percent higher odds (AOR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.19–1.93) of primary dentition caries.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1444
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume14
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Keywords

  • Australia
  • dental caries
  • fluoridation
  • school children

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