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Home Prevalence and determinants of early childhood caries in Italy

Prevalence and determinants of early childhood caries in Italy

Authors:

  • S. Colombo
    Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Istituto Stomatologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
  • S. Gallus
    Department of Environmental Health Sciences; Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy
  • M. Beretta
    DDS, MS Ortho, MS Digital Dentistry, Private Practice in Varese, Italy
  • A. Lugo
    Department of Environmental Health Sciences; Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy
  • S. Scaglioni
    De Marchi Foundation - Department of Pediatrics, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
  • P. Colombo
    Research manager – BVA Doxa
  • M. Paglia
    Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Istituto Stomatologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
  • R. Gatto
    Ordinary Professor in Pediatric Dentistry, University of l’Aquila, dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Sanità Pubblica, scienze della Salute e dell’Ambiente
  • G. Marzo
    MeSVA Department - Università degli Studi de l’Aquila
  • S. Caruso
    Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Università degli Studi de l’Aquila, dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Sanità Pubblica, scienze della Salute e dell’Ambiente

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23804/ejpd.2019.20.04.02

ABSTRACT


Aim

Still limited data from representative surveys are available on the prevalence of Early Childhood Caries (ECC; i.e., the presence of one or more decayed, missing, or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a child aged 71 months or younger), particularly for infant. We conducted a survey in Italian children aged 0 to 71 months.

Material and methods

A cross-sectional study on ECC was conducted in Italy in 2018 on a sample of parents who were members of an online panel. Using an online questionnaire, 2,522 parents provided information on a total sample of 3,000 children, representative of the Italian population aged 0–71 months.

Results

ECC prevalence was 8.2% overall, 2.9% in children aged 0–23 months, 6.2% in children aged 24–47 and 14.7% in children aged 48–71 months (p for trend<0.001). ECC was more frequently observed among children using baby bottle with milk to fall asleep (multivariate odds ratio, OR, 1.36, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.03-1.78), baby bottle with sugary beverages (OR 2.87, 95% CI: 2.05-4.03) and pacifier with sugary substances (OR 2.49, 95% CI: 1.79-3.47), consuming beverages other than water (OR for ?1/day vs never 2.29, 95% CI: 1.35-3.90), a higher number of snacks between meals (OR for ?3 vs <2 meals 2.05, 95% CI: 1-38-3.06), a lower frequency of tooth brushing (OR for <1 vs ?2 times/day 2.26, 95% CI: 1.42-3.58) and a high number of siblings (compared to 0, OR for ?2 siblings 2.28, 95% CI: 1.56-3.34). ECC increased with parents’ mean age (p for trend=0.048), parents’ smoking habit (OR for at least one smoker 1.54, 95% CI: 1.17-2.03), parents’ poor oral hygiene (OR for ?1 vs >1 time/day of tooth brushing 1.42, 95% CI: 1.03-1.96) and high number of caries (OR for ?7 vs 0 caries was 2.38, 95% CI: 1.35-4.20).

Conclusion

The present large and representative survey for the first time shows that ECC might be frequent also among infants. We confirm that ECC might be prevented if parents follow simple good practices. Information campaign and intervention programmes are needed to inform parents about unfavourable habits that favour the onset of ECC.

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Publication date:

December /2019

Issue:

Vol.20 – n.4/2019

Page:

267 – 273

Publisher:

Ariesdue

Cite:


Harvard: S. Colombo, S. Gallus, M. Beretta, A. Lugo, S. Scaglioni, P. Colombo, M. Paglia, R. Gatto, G. Marzo, S. Caruso (2019) "Prevalence and determinants of early childhood caries in Italy", European Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 20(4), pp267-273. doi: 10.23804/ejpd.2019.20.04.02
Vancouver: S. Colombo, S. Gallus, M. Beretta, A. Lugo, S. Scaglioni, P. Colombo, M. Paglia, R. Gatto, G. Marzo, S. Caruso. Prevalence and determinants of early childhood caries in Italy. European Journal of Paediatric Dentistry [Internet]. 2019Dec.1 [cited 2023Mar.27];20(4):267-273. Available from: https://www.ejpd.eu/abstract-pubmed/prevalence-and-determinants-of-early-childhood-caries-in-italy/
MLA: S. Colombo, S. Gallus, M. Beretta, A. Lugo, S. Scaglioni, P. Colombo, M. Paglia, R. Gatto, G. Marzo, S. Caruso Prevalence and determinants of early childhood caries in Italy. European Journal of Paediatric Dentistry. 2019;20(4):267-273

Copyright (c) 2021 Ariesdue

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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