Comparison between Asthmatic and Healthy Children in ECC Frequency

Asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases that are discussed as a risk factor for tooth caries. There are only limited number of studies about effects of asthma on dental caries especially ECC and the results are controversial. The purpose of this study has been comparison between asthmatic and healthy children in ECC frequency. In this case control study, 100 asthmatic children aged 2-6 years old reffered to a pedodontist‘s office with one year moderate asthma, and 100 non asthmatic children who were matched according to their age and sex and socioecconemic situation were examined for ECC frequency and dmft. The data were analysed with Mann-Whitney and Chi_Square tests and t-tests in significance level (P˂0.05). A significant difference was found in ECC between asthmatic (59%) and control (41%) groups and significant difference was found in mean of dmft between asthmatic group (3.1±2.1) and control group (1.14±1.2) (P˂0.05). It was concluded that asthmatic children 2-6 years old had higher ECC frequency and dmft level.