Genetic Markers of Caries Risk in Diverse Underserved Children: CIDR

The study Predicting Caries Risk In Underserved Children, From Toddlers To The School-age Years In Primary Healthcare Settings, is a renewal of an initial project designed to develop a dental caries risk tool for use in primary medical and dental healthcare settings to identify high dental caries risk children, expanding from the toddler (1-4 years old, referred to as Stage 1 grant) to the school-age years (6-9 years old, referred to as Stage 2 grant); and to determine the relationships between dental caries risk profiles and dental caries disease patterns. 1326 children, 12 +/- 3 months of age, and their primary caregivers, were enrolled in the study. This cohort represents a diverse population, including ethnic and racial minorities and low socio-economic status groups. There are a total of six in-person visits (at child age 1, 2.5, 4, 6.5, 8 and 9.5 years), and at each one the primary caregiver (PCG) completes a dental caries risk questionnaire, and the child receives a detailed dental caries examination. Saliva samples were collected during the age 8 visit (2019-2020) from 1,059 racially and ethnically diverse individuals (543 children and 516 PCGs) for the purposes of human genetic testing, to study the genetics of dental caries experience of children and their primary caregivers. ]]>
Inclusion Criteria Adults: • If Primary Caregiver is the Parent/Legal guardian: The parent/legal guardian must provide written informed consent for the child and her/himself (if s/he is the primary caregiver) prior to participation. Primary caregiver is defined as the individual most consistently responsible for the housing, health, and safety of the child, and is expected to be the parent or legal guardian, but may include other individuals. It is expected the primary caregiver will live in the same home as the child. • If Primary Caregiver is not the Parent/Legal Guardian: If another individual is the primary caregiver, then this individual must provide written informed consent for her/himself prior to participation. In addition, the parent/legal guardian must also provide written informed consent for the child and verify that the adult participating in this study listed as "primary caregiver" meets the definition of "primary caregiver" for the child. • The parent/legal guardian and the participating primary caregiver must each be at least 18 years old or an emancipated minor who provides documentation of emancipation and must be able to read and comprehend the consent document. • The parent/legal guardians must consent and allow examination of the oral cavity of her/his child. • The primary caregiver must be willing to participate, anticipate being the child's primary caregiver during the study period, and anticipate being available for all examinations, in addition to intermediate contacts in between examinations. Children: • Child must be 9-15 months of age at the time of the baseline study visit in Stage 1, and have participated in Stage 1 of this caries risk cohort study to participate in Stage 2. • Child must be generally healthy (i.e., no current medical condition that makes it difficult for her/him to receive a dental examination). • Child must allow examination of the oral cavity. • Children must provide assent at the appropriate age. Exclusion Criteria Adults: • A participant pair (adult-child) who demonstrates an inability to comply with study protocol requirements will be excluded – this determination will be at the Site Primary Investigator's discretion. • Non-English, non-Spanish reading/speaking individuals will be excluded, as they will not be able to comprehend the consent document or complete the risk questionnaire. Children: • Children who are in foster care at study initiation will be excluded, due to the likelihood that their primary caregiver will change multiple times during the length of the study. • Need for antibiotic and/or sedative premedication prior to dental exam. • Uncontrolled epilepsy. • Active cancer treatment. • Unrepaired congenital heart defects that would require premedication prior to dental exam. ]]>
First baseline visit November 2012First child age 2.5 year visit May 2014First child age 4 year visit November 2015 First child age 6.5 year visit July 2018 First child age 8 year old visit September 2019 First child age 9.5 year old visit June 2021]]>