Inequality in dental caries distribution at noncavitated and cavitated thresholds in preschool children
- 11 September 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Public Health Dentistry
- Vol. 74 (2), 120-126
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jphd.12035
Abstract
Objective To evaluate the inequality in dental caries distribution according to different thresholds assessed using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and to investigate the associations of socioeconomic factors with caries lesions at both noncavitated and cavitated thresholds. Methods Study subjects were recruited in Santa Maria, Brazil, during the National Day of Children's Vaccination, and 639 children aged 12-59 months were included. Fifteen calibrated examiners performed the examinations using ICDAS criteria. Inequality in dental caries distribution was measured using the Gini coefficient, and the Significant Caries Index was calculated for several thresholds of ICDAS. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the associations of socioeconomic factors with the highest caries scores. Results The inequality in the distribution of dental caries was lower when precavitated caries were included; the Gini coefficient decreased from 0.77 to 0.60 when noncavitated caries lesions were included in the analyses. Moreover, the inequalities were higher in the younger than in the older children for all thresholds. Socioeconomic factors were significantly (P<0.001) associated with caries when an ICDAS score of 3 was considered as the cut-off point. Children whose mothers did not complete primary education (P<0.001) and those with low household income (P<0.001) were more likely to have increased dental caries. Conclusion Caries lesions were more equally distributed when noncavitated lesions were included in the dental survey. Socioeconomic factors are found to be associated with the inequalities in caries distribution in this age group.Keywords
Funding Information
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (470969/2010-5, 302368/2008-6, 565061/2008-9)
- Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e de Pós-Graduação da Universidade de São Paulo
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Caries experience in a child population in a deprived area of Brazil, using ICDAS IIClinical Oral Investigations, 2011
- Socioeconomic inequalities in the distribution of dental caries in Brazilian preschool childrenJournal of Public Health Dentistry, 2010
- Trends in dental caries in 1‐ to 4‐year‐old children in a Brazilian city between 1997 and 2008International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 2010
- Estimating adjusted prevalence ratio in clustered cross-sectional epidemiological dataBMC Medical Research Methodology, 2008
- Exploring the association of dental caries with social factors and nutritional status in Brazilian preschool childrenEuropean Journal of Oral Sciences, 2008
- Risk indicators for dental caries using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS)Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 2007
- Dental caries in 0‐ to 5‐year‐old Brazilian children: prevalence, severity, and associated factorsInternational Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 2007
- Alternatives for logistic regression in cross-sectional studies: an empirical comparison of models that directly estimate the prevalence ratioBMC Medical Research Methodology, 2003
- Caries in the preschool child international trendsJournal of Dentistry, 1990
- The Equivalence of Weighted Kappa and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient as Measures of ReliabilityEducational and Psychological Measurement, 1973