Behavioral and social determinants of early childhood caries among Palestinian preschoolers in Jerusalem area: a cross-sectional study

A scoping review of the links between early childhood caries and clean water and sanitation: the Sustainable Development Goal 6

INTRODUCTION

The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 calls for universal access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), which are crucial elements of health and well-being and fundamental for a life in dignity. Early childhood caries (ECC) is a preventable disease affecting health and quality of life of millions of young children worldwide. This scoping review aims to explore the connection between ECC and access to clean water and sanitation.

METHODS

This scoping review, registered on the Open Science Framework and following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, conducted a thorough search in databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Google Scholar, SciELO) and websites (via Google) in November 2023. The search, without date limitations, targeted studies in English and Spanish linking ECC to SDG6. Exclusions were made for studies solely focusing on ECC without a direct connection to clean water and sanitation. Descriptive statistics summarized the retrieved papers.

RESULTS

The initial search yielded 303 articles. After removing duplicates, 264 articles remained for title and abstract screening after which 244 were excluded and one report was added through citation searching. The 21 remaining articles underwent full text review. There were no studies on a direct association between access to clean water and sanitation and the prevalence of ECC. There were nine studies that showed indirect associations between ECC and access to clean water and sanitation through the links of: water and sanitation access as a marker for poverty (n = 1), water consumption as a feeding practice (n = 4), and the effectiveness of water fluoridation (n = 4). These were used to develop a conceptual model.

CONCLUSIONS

While it is conceivable that a direct link exists between ECC and access to clean water and sanitation, the available body of research only offers evidence of indirect associations. The exploration of potential pathways connecting water access to ECC warrants further investigation in future research.

Polish pregnant women's knowledge on early childhood caries prevention and oral hygiene in children

BACKGROUND

Early childhood caries (ECC) is one of the most common chronic diseases among children. In Poland 86.9% of six-year-olds have ECC. One of the factors determining adherence to ECC prophylaxis and oral hygiene is mothers' knowledge. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge demonstrated by pregnant women about ECC prevention and oral hygiene, and to analyse the determinants of this knowledge.

METHODS

A quantitative survey was conducted using Computer Assisted Telephone Interview technique on a randomly selected representative sample of 1,000 women over the age of 18 in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The significance level was established at 0.05 and p-values were presented as: p < 0.05, p < 0.01 and p < 0.001.

RESULTS

The highest percentage of wrong or "I don't know" answers were related to questions about: the number of free dental check-ups for children (76.8%), the date of the child's first visit to the dentist (66.5%), the age when the child has mixed dentition (72.2%). Women with higher education had better knowledge than women with lower or secondary education. Women with good and very good financial situation showed a higher level of knowledge compared to women with average, bad and very bad financial situation.

CONCLUSIONS

When developing prevention strategies and educational programs as part of prenatal care for women to reduce the incidence of ECC, it is important to take into account the identified areas that need support and specific target groups (mothers with lower socioeconomic status).

Effect of dietary patterns on dental caries among 12-15 years-old adolescents: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Several factors can influence the risk of dental caries, among which dietary factors have a significance impact on the occurrence of dental caries. The limitation of current studies is that they only focus on the influence of individual foods on the risk of dental caries. This study use cluster analysis to examine the relationship between dietary patterns and dental caries experience among adolescents aged 12-15.

METHODS

Based on data from the first oral epidemic survey in Shanxi Province, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 11,351 adolescents aged 12-15 in Shanxi Province through oral examination and questionnaires. The questionnaire included the intake frequency of seven types of food. Descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, and multinomial logistic regression were used to analyze the association between dietary patterns and dental caries experience.

RESULTS

The prevalence rate of caries was 44.57% and the mean DMFT score was 0.98 ± 1.49 in adolescents aged 12-15 in Shanxi Province. The caries rate was higher in females than males (X2 = 103.59, P < 0.001). Adolescents who grow up in one-child families have a lower caries risk than those who grow up in families with more than one child (OR:0.91; 95%CI:0.84-0.97). The dietary patterns of adolescents aged 12-15 can be divided into eight types, among which refreshments-rich diet (OR:1.47; 95%CI,1.22-1.77) can increase the risk of caries, while the coarse-grains-rich dietery pattern (OR:0.90; 95%CI, 0.79-0.97) has a lower caries risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Social determinants of health such as sex, family size and dietary patterns influence the risk of dental caries. Certain dietary patterns could increase or decrease the risk of caries. The government, school canteens and news media should take dietary pattern factors seriously.