Fatores de risco para a cárie dental em crianças na primeira infância, Salvador - BA

Abstract

Objectives: to identify factors associated with the incidence of caries in early childhood. Methods: a prospective (14 months) cohort study was conducted with 495 children aged between 4 and 30 months in public, private and philanthropic crèches in Salvador-Bahia. Results: the mean number of teeth with caries was 0.18 (SD=0.75) at the start of the study and 0.55 (SD=1.40) at the end. The incidence in children originally free of caries was 18.5% and 22.6% in the group as a whole. Three models were considered for logistic regression analysis. In the group as a whole (N=495), the most prevalent factors were prior experience of caries (OR=6.8; CI95%= 3.0-15.1), attending a public crèche (OR=2.9; CI95%= 1.6-5.3), and age > 24 months. In the second model, attending a public crèche (N=329): age, breastfeeding during sleep (OR=1.9; CI95%= 1.1-3.2), white stains (OR=3.5; CI95%= 1.1-11.3), a home without adequate shelter (OR=2.3; CI95%= 1.2-4.1) and prior experience of caries (OR=3.9; CI95%= 1.5-10.6) were the main factors. And, in the third model, children without caries at the start of the study(N=495), the main factors were attending a public crèche, age, dark skin color (OR=5.5; CI95%= 1.3-23.8) and breastfeeding during sleep after one year(OR= 1.7; CI95%= 1.0- 2.8). Conclusions: social vulnerability was found to be a powerful risk factor for caries in children under two years of age. Action needs to be taken to improve living conditions and promote dental health in order to reduce morbidity.