Longitudinal study into the determining factors of dental caries in children aged 4: socio-behavioral aspects and oral health of pregnant women

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the influence of oral health conditions and socio-behavioral characteristics of pregnant women on the development of caries and their children's experiences, after 4 years of follow-up. Methods: It was conducted a longitudinal study of mother/child pairs by interview and oral clinical examination during pregnancy. Regular observations were made until the child had reached four years of age, at which time we performed a clinical examination of the children (n=73). The variables studied were: presence of caries in pregnancy (DMFT) and the child (deft), visit to the dentist, oral hygiene habits, diet, socioeconomic and behavioral factors, and were related to two study outcomes: presence of caries during the examination and experience of caries (deft≥1) in children of 4 years of age. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted with the variables (p<0.05 and 95% CI). Results: The average DMFT index of mothers during pregnancy was 12.09 (±2.88) and average deft index of children at 4 years was 1.79 (± 6.1). In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the presence of caries in children was associated with the presence of harmful habits (p=0.04). Caries in the child was statistically associated with brush sharing among family members (p=0.02). Conclusion: The results suggest that behavioral aspects are related to the presence and experience of caries in childhood.