The relationship between tooth discoloration and caries in primary teeth in preschool children / 实用口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the relationship between primary tooth discoloration and caries in preschool children. Methods: 675 preschool children enrolled from 5 preschools in Suzhou City, China were examined for dental caries and tooth surface stain. Parents completed the questionnaires about their children's eating habit and living habit. The relationship between primary tooth discoloration and caries was analyzed with the respect to diet, hygiene, and the use of medicine or medical supplements. Results: Of the 675 children, 117(17. 3％; 52 boys and 65 girls) had tooth discoloration with no significant differences between gender(P＞ 0. 05). In the 117 children with tooth discoloration, 36(30. 8％) had dental caries, and in the 558 children without tooth discoloration 325 had caries (58. 2％, between the 2 groups, P＜ 0. 05). The incidence of discoloration was related with the frequency of consuming pigmented foods, vegetable and Chinese herbal medicines(P＜ 0. 05). The frequency of brushing teeth, use of water purifier and the water intake quantity were not significantly associated with discoloration of the teeth(P＞ 0. 05). Conclusion: The discoloration of primary teeth was negatively correlated with caries in primary teeth. Intake of pigmented food and medicine, vegetable and Chinese herbal medicine is related to tooth discoloration in preschool children.