Early childhood caries and its association with socio-economic risk factors

Early dental caries in childhood is one of the most prevalent health problems. This survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of early childhood caries and its contributing socio-economic factors among kindergarten children of Semnen, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 1332 children under 6 years from Semnan kindergartens were selected by census and examined for dental caries using WHO criteria. Variables including age, gender, educational level and occupation of parents and the level of kindergarten were recorded in a checklist. Additionally, the number of decayed, filled or extracted teeth was also calculated to represent the dmft score.

From 1332 studied children, 61.1% had early childhood caries (ECC). Variables including age (OR= 2.21 and 95%CI: 1.90-2.56, p<0.001)) and maternal career (p= 0.002) showed significant relationship with ECC. Moreover, the incidence of ECC was 2.33 and 2.95 times greater among children with housewife mothers and mothers having non-medical jobs, respectively than that of children with mothers having medical jobs.

The results indicated a high prevalence of early childhood caries among Semnan children. Therefore, particular emphasis should be placed on educational and interventional programs, especially for mothers of children specifically at preschool age regarding their health care procedures and diet.