Influence of different ethnicities on early childhood caries in preschool children at risk of social exclusion in Southeastern Spain

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ABSTRACT

Aim

To estimate the prevalence of early childhood caries and to study a possible influence on different ethnicities in preschool children aged 3 to 5 with social exclusion risk.

Background

Oral diseases are a major global public health problem, with negative effects at both individual and collective levels, and there is a relationship between socioeconomic characteristics such as income, occupation and educational level, with the prevalence and severity of oral diseases.

Methods

A cross sectional study was conducted in a sample of 288 preschool children belonging to three schools in the Southeastern Spain among other variables dmft and ICDASS index.

Results

The whole sample presents a mean of 1.92 primary teeth with initial white spot enamel lesions (code 2 ICDAS), 1.54 primary teeth code 5 ICDAS and 1.44 primary teeth Code 6 ICDAS. The mean number of filled primary teeth is 0.15, restoration index of 2.1%. The dmft mean value is 3.81 (3.31-4.31 95% confidence interval). There are significant differences in dmft index between the ethnic groups (p-value=0.009). When analysing the prevalence of cavities (ICDAS index 4-6>0), there are significant differences in the prevalences (p-value<0.001) according to ethnicity, with Latin Americans having the lowest value (41.8%) and the highest value for Gypsies (88.9%). The odds of cavitated caries were 4.06 times higher in Spanish Roma than in Caucasians.

Conclusion

The ethnicity of school children at risk of social exclusion is a determining factor in the increased prevalence of cavities in primary caries.

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