Influence of Tooth Brushing and Previous Dental Visits on Dental Caries Status among Saudi Arabian Children

Children · 4 authors, 4 centres

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TL;DR

This cross-sectional study of 268 Saudi children found a high prevalence (78.8%) of dental caries in primary teeth, with caries status positively associated with age and previous dental visits, but not with sex or tooth brushing frequency.

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A cross-sectional study of 268 Saudi children (mean age 4.6 years) attending a pediatric dental clinic evaluated dental caries prevalence and its associations. Dental caries was diagnosed using WHO criteria, and parental questionnaires assessed tooth brushing frequency and previous dental visits. The study found a caries prevalence of 78.8% with a mean dmft of 5.82 ± 4.48. However, multivariate analysis indicated only age and previous dental visits were significantly associated with mean dmft scores (p < 0.05); sex and tooth brushing frequency were not. Mandibular second molars were most commonly affected. Limitations include the cross-sectional design, a modest sample size from a single specialty clinic, and potential selection bias, which limit generalizability.

STUDY TYPE

cross-sectional

SPECIALTY

pediatrics

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10047117

Influence of Tooth Brushing and Previous Dental Visits on Dental Caries Status among Saudi Arabian Children

Children

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ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the dental caries status and its association with tooth brushing frequency and previous dental visits among Arabian children. Methods: Arabian school children attend a specialty pediatric dental clinic at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia. Only children of Saudi origin with primary dentition were included in the study, and only one examiner was involved in the assessment and data collection. The parents of children completed a questionnaire to investigate possible explanatory variables for caries status, including tooth brushing frequency and previous dental visits. Dental caries were diagnosed according to the criteria recommended by the World Health Organization (2013). The comparison performed was based on sex, age, tooth brushing frequency, and previous dental visits. The descriptive statistics were carried out using SPSS (version 21.0) with a p -value of <0.05 significance. Results: The study involved 268 Saudi children with a mean age of 4.6 ± 1.1 years. The caries prevalence was 78.8%, and the mean dmft was 5.82 ± 4.48, while the overall mean scores for decayed, missing, and filled were 3.903 ± 3.69, 1.18 ± 1.69, and 0.73 ± 1.35, respectively. The mean dmft scores for the <3 years, 3.1–6 years, and >6 years old children were found to be 1.74, 6.58, and 4.58, respectively. Among the children, the females reported higher dmf scores (7.51 ± 4.18) compared to males (4.97 ± 4.39) with a statistically significant difference ( p < 0.001). Fifty percent of the children had tooth brushing habits of once daily, followed by never (22.4%), twice daily (15.7%), and rarely (11.2%) brushed their teeth. Statistically significant correlations were found between the children’s dental caries status, age, and dental visits, while sex and tooth brushing did not find a correlation. Conclusion: The prevalence of dental caries among Arabian preschool children was higher. Mandibular second molars were commonly affected by dental caries, while mandibular central incisors were less frequently affected. The child’s age and frequency of dental checkups were positively related to the prevalence of dental caries.

CITATION EXPORT

Sreekanth Kumar Mallineni, Abdullah Alassaf, Basim Almulhim et al.. Influence of Tooth Brushing and Previous Dental Visits on Dental Caries Status among Saudi Arabian Children. Children. (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030471

AUTHORS

4 · 4 CENTRES

Sreekanth Kumar Mallineni, Abdullah Alassaf, Basim Almulhim, Sara Alghamdi

1Division for Globalization Initiative, Liaison Center for Innovative Dentistry, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
2Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CFTR), Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, India
3Pediatric Dentistry, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital, Ar Rayyan, Riyadh 14212, Saudi Arabia
4Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia

EDITOR / REVIEWER

Silvia Caruso, Roberto Gatto