Sociodemographic variation of caries risk factors in toddlers and caregivers

Abstract

Objectives. Dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease, with numerous identified risk factors. Risk factor differences could indicate the need to target caregiver/patient education/preventive care intervention strategies based on population and/or individual characteristics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate caries risk factors differences by race/ethnicity, income, and education. Methods. We enrolled 396 caregiver-toddler pairs and administered a 105-item questionnaire addressing demographics, access to care, oral bacteria transmission, caregiver's/toddler's dental and medical health practices, caregiver's dental beliefs, and caregiver's/toddler's snacking/drinking habits. Logistic regressions and ANOVAs were used to evaluate the associations of questionnaire responses with caregiver's race/ethnicity, income, and education. Results. Caregivers self-identified as Non-Hispanic African-American (44%), Non-Hispanic White (36%), Hispanic (19%), and "other" (1%). Differences related to race/ethnicity, income, and education were found in all risk factor categories. Conclusions. Planning of caregiver/patient education/preventive care intervention strategies should be undertaken with these caries risk factor differences kept in mind.

Figure 1

Relationships of race/ethnicity with oral bacteria transmission questionnaire responses (% responding “Yes”). Analyses were performed for each questionnaire item using multivariable logistic regression models with race/ethnicity, income, and education as predictors. Differences among race/ethnicity groups were found for “ever breast fed” (P = .0004, highest for Hispanics), “kiss child on lips” (P = .0001, lowest for Hispanics), “share plate/bowl/glass” (P = .0001, lowest for Hispanics), and “pacifier in your mouth” (P = .0156, lowest for Hispanics).

Figure 2

Relationships of race/ethnicity with dental beliefs of caregivers. Analyses were performed for each questionnaire item using multivariable logistic regression models with race/ethnicity, income, and education as predictors. Differences among race/ethnicity groups were found for “cleaning should start” (P = .0001, earlier for Non-Hispanic Whites), “bad teeth are mostly inherited from parent” (P = .0119, lower response of “false” for Hispanics), “most children will get cavities” (P = .0304, lower response of “false” for Hispanics), and “adults lose all teeth as they get older” (P = .0001, higher response of “false” for Non-Hispanic Whites).