Abstract:

Objective

To compare the prevalence of caries in deciduous teeth of children from urban and suburban areas of Guangzhou and analyze the related factors.

Methods

360 children in 5 nurseries in Dongshan District （urban） and 369 children in 7 nurseries in Conghua （suburban）were chosen randomly in this study. Dental caries status， developmental defect of enamel （DDE） and Visible Plaque Index （VPI） among 3～4 year-old children were recorded. Data related to caries were collected using structured questionnaire complete by their parents.

Results

The dmft and prevalence of caries among children in Dongshan （1.01 and 29.4%） were significantly lower than those among children in Conghua （3.70 and 68.0%）（P ＜0.01）. The results of multiple regression analysis demonstrated that 10 factors correlated to the dmft level of the children， and 5 out of 10 may be contributed to the differences between these two districts， which included consuming sweetmeat at night， using toothpaste after 3 years old， mothers' age， parents' oral health attitude and income.

Conclusion

The results of this cross-section survey primarily suggest that the reasons related to the high dmft level of the children in suburban areas of Guangzhou are consuming sweetmeat at night，using toothpaste after 3 years old， mothers' age， parents' oral health attitude and income.

Key words: Caries, Deciduous teeth, Dmft, Risk factor