Fatores associados à incidência de maloclusão na dentição decídua em crianças de uma coorte hospitalar pública do nordeste Brasileiro

Abstract

Objectives: to estimate the incidence of malocclu-sion in deciduous dentition and the factors associated with it in early infancy Methods: a longitudinal study was carried out with children born in the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia, who were accompanied for 36 months. Incidence rates for malocclusion and incidence density ratios (IDR), with corresponding 95% confidence intervals, were obtained to assess the association between malocclusion and associated factors. Poisson regression models were adjusted to control for confounders Results: it was found that 34.4% of the children had mild malocclusion and 23.3% moderate or serious malocclusion, giving a total of 57.8% with some degree of malocclusion at three years of age. The overall incidence rate for malocclusion was 27.2 cases per 100 children per year. Children who used a pacifier or sucked their thumb had a higher risk of malocclusion than those who did not develop such sucking habits (IDR=1.99; CI95%= 1.26 – 3.26). Children who were not exclusively or predominantly breastfed for a period of four months had a 1.5-fold greater risk of malocculsion (CI95%= 0.99 – 2.25) compared to children who were exclusively or predominantly breastfed during this period. Conclusions: health workers are alerted to the need to encourage maternal breastfeeding and measures to prevent malocclusion in early infancy.