Presence of Initial Caries Lesions as a Risk Factor for Caries in Preschool Children: A Cohort Study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of initial noncavitated caries lesions on cavitated caries increment in preschool children. A 2-year cohort study was designed to include the participants of a survey on dental caries performed in 2010. Preschool children (12-59 months old) were examined for dental caries and classified as children with no caries lesions, with only initial lesions, with at least 1 moderate caries lesion, and with extensive lesions. Socioeconomic data were also collected. After 2 years, 466 children were re-examined (follow-up rate of 72.9%) only for cavitated lesions. Association between caries incidence at 2 levels of severity and caries experience and other variables was evaluated using hierarchical Poisson regression analysis. The children with moderate and extensive caries lesions at baseline presented a higher risk of presenting both outcomes than the children with no caries lesions. Nevertheless, the children with only initial lesions had a higher risk of developing at least 1 new cavitated carious lesion, but not for a more severe increment in caries. Subgroup analysis stratified by the children's age showed that the influence of the presence of initial caries lesions on cavitated caries increment was only observed in children aged 12-35 months. In conclusion, although the presence of moderate and extensive lesions at baseline is a significant predictor for cavitated caries increment after 2 years in preschool children at all ages, the presence of only initial caries lesions is also associated, but with less severe caries incidence.

Sensitivity of an oral health-related quality-of-life questionnaire in detecting oral health impairment in preschool children.

AIM: This two-year cohort study evaluated whether the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is responsive to detect changes related to dental caries. DESIGN: Preschool children were examined in 2010 regarding dental caries, and their parents responded to the ECOHIS. After 2 years, 352 children (response rate = 73.6%) were re-examined and a new ECOHIS was responded. Children were categorized according to caries increment (no new caries, 1-3 surfaces with new lesions, and four or more decayed surfaces). The outcome variables were related to the decline of quality of life as determined via ECOHIS: decline, severe decline, and differences between baseline and follow-up scores. Effect sizes (ES) were calculated, and the associations were evaluated through Poisson regression. RESULTS: ES was small for children with 1-3 new lesions (ES = 0.19) and moderate for children with four or more new carious lesions (ES = 0.61). Children who developed 1-3 new lesions were significantly associated with all outcome variables compared to children with no new lesions, but the associations were stronger for children with four or more new carious lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The ECOHIS is sensitive to the deterioration of quality of life due to caries increments in preschool children.

Responsiveness of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is related to dental treatment complexity.

BACKGROUND: The responsiveness of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) has varied greatly across studies; hence, we hypothesized that this discrepancy could be related to the complexity of dental treatment received. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the responsiveness of the ECOHIS to changes in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) following dental treatments of varying complexity in preschool children. METHODS: Preschool children aged 3 to 6 years were selected; their parents responded to the ECOHIS at baseline. The parents responded to the ECOHIS again and a global transition question 30 days after the children were treated. The type of treatment received by the children was categorized according to complexity, as follows: 1) non-operative treatment only, 2) restorative treatment, and 3) endodontic treatment and/or tooth extraction. Change scores and effect sizes (ES) were calculated for total scores, as well as considering the different treatment types and global transition question responses. RESULTS: Of the 152 children who completed the study, the ECOHIS yielded large ES for total scores (0.89). The children showed increasing ES values associated with better perception of improvement, assessed by the global transition question. The magnitude of ES after treatment was related to treatment complexity (0.53, 0.92 and 1.43, for children who received non-operative treatment only, restorative treatment, and endodontic treatment and/or tooth extraction, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Parents whose children required more complex dental treatment are more likely to perceive treatment-related changes to OHRQoL assessed with the ECOHIS.

Influence of initial caries lesions on quality of life in preschool children: a 2-year cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the impact of the presence of initial and other stages of dental caries on the impairment of oral health-related quality of life in preschool children (COHRQoL) through a cohort study. METHODS: During an epidemiological survey, 478 children (12-59 months old) were examined for dental caries using the International Caries and Detection Assessment System (ICDAS), and their parents answered the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS). Children were categorized based on the presence of dental caries as follows: children with no caries lesions, children with only initial lesions (ICDAS scores 1 and 2), children with at least one moderate lesion (ICDAS scores 3 and 4) and children with extensive lesions (ICDAS scores 5 and 6). After 2 years, 352 children were re-examined for the presence of dentine cavitations, and their parents completed a new ECOHIS questionnaire. Multilevel Poisson regression analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of the presence of different stages of caries lesions at the baseline on COHRQoL impairment at the follow-up, considering two outcome variables: worsening and severe worsening of COHRQoL. Relative risk values (RR) and respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. RESULTS: Worsening or severe worsening of the COHRQoL at the follow-up were observed only in children with moderate lesions (RR = 2.00; 95% CI = 1.30-3.08 and RR = 2.38; 95% CI = 1.31-4.34, respectively) or children with extensive lesions (RR = 1.59; 95% CI = 1.10-2.30 for worsening and RR = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.13-3.12 for severe worsening). On the other hand, the presence of only initial caries lesions was not a significant predictor of COHRQoL impairment. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of only initial caries lesions does not impair COHRQoL of preschool children; however, moderate and extensive lesions are risk factors for worsening of the COHRQoL.

Risk of initial and moderate caries lesions in primary teeth to progress to dentine cavitation: a 2-year cohort study.

AIM: To investigate the risk of sound surfaces, and initial and moderate caries lesions to progress to dentine cavitation in preschool children. DESIGN: A cohort study was designed with 639 children (12-59 months old) who had been examined by visual inspection during a survey in 2010. After 2 years, 469 children were re-examined regarding the presence of dentine cavitations. The probability of progression was calculated for sound and carious (initial and moderate lesions) surfaces. Relative risk of progression and 95% confidence intervals for each condition compared with sound surfaces were calculated using multilevel Poisson regression analysis. Association with explanatory variables, including caries experience of the children, was also investigated. RESULTS: The higher the initial score attributed to the dental surface, the more likely was the progression. Moreover, children with severe lesions at baseline had higher risk of having a sound surface or a non-cavitated caries lesion progressing to cavitation when compared with caries-free children; however, this increased risk was not observed in children with only initial caries lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Initial caries lesions present a low frequency of progression. Moreover, sound surfaces and initial caries lesions in children already presenting cavitations are more likely to progress to more severe conditions.

Laboratorial training of examiners for using a visual caries detection system in epidemiological surveys.

BACKGROUND: In epidemiological surveys, a good reliability among the examiners regarding the caries detection method is essential. However, training and calibrating those examiners is an arduous task because it involves several patients who are examined many times. To facilitate this step, we aimed to propose a laboratory methodology to simulate the examinations performed to detect caries lesions using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) in epidemiological surveys. METHODS: A benchmark examiner conducted all training sessions. A total of 67 exfoliated primary teeth, varying from sound to extensive cavitated, were set in seven arch models to simulate complete mouths in primary dentition. Sixteen examiners (graduate students) evaluated all surfaces of the teeth under illumination using buccal mirrors and ball-ended probe in two occasions, using only coronal primary caries scores of the ICDAS. As reference standard, two different examiners assessed the proximal surfaces by direct visual inspection, classifying them in sound, with non-cavitated or with cavitated lesions. After, teeth were sectioned in the bucco-lingual direction, and the examiners assessed the sections in stereomicroscope, classifying the occlusal and smooth surfaces according to lesion depth. Inter-examiner reproducibility was evaluated using weighted kappa. Sensitivities and specificities were calculated at two thresholds: all lesions and advanced lesions (cavitated lesions in proximal surfaces and lesions reaching the dentine in occlusal and smooth surfaces). RESULTS: Regarding the reproducibility, the mean (range) of kappa values was 0.781 (0.529-0.927) for occlusal surfaces, 0.568 (0.191-0.881) for smooth surfaces, and 0.844 (0.698-0.971) for proximal surfaces. Considering all lesions, sensitivity and specificity mean values were respectively 0.724 and 0.844 for occlusal, 0.635 and 0.943 for smooth and 0.658 and 0.927 for proximal surfaces. For detecting advanced lesions, sensitivities and specificities were 0.563 and 0.920 for occlusal, 0.670 and 0.985 for smooth, and 0.838 and 0.985 for proximal surfaces. CONCLUSION: The methodology purposed for training and calibration of several examiners designated for epidemiological surveys of dental caries in preschool children using the ICDAS is feasible, permitting the assessment of reliability and accuracy of the examiners previously to the survey's development.

Activity assessment has little impact on caries parameters reduction in epidemiological surveys with preschool children.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the magnitude of the reduction in caries parameters after inclusion of dental caries activity assessment, in an epidemiological survey of preschool children, involving cavitated and noncavitated caries lesions. METHODS: The survey was carried out in Santa Maria, Brazil, during the National Children's Vaccination Day, and 639 children aged between 12 months and 59 months were included. Fifteen examiners assessed the children based on the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and additional lesion activity assessment criteria. The mean of decayed surfaces (d-s), the mean of decayed teeth (d-t), caries prevalence, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, initially by classifying all lesions using the various thresholds defined by the ICDAS. Caries activity status was then evaluated, and inactive lesions were classified as sound in a secondary analysis; subsequently, the same caries parameters, at the same thresholds, were recalculated. The reduction in caries parameters and the number of children requiring assessment to change their classification from decayed to sound (number needed to be assessed) were also calculated. RESULTS: The majority of lesions were classified as active, mainly at cavitated thresholds. When activity was considered, values of all caries parameters decreased. This decrease was more evident at noncavitated thresholds. The number of children requiring assessment to change their classification from decayed to sound was <20 considering all lesions, but this value increased to approximately 100 when we included only cavitated lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of activity assessment in caries epidemiological surveys has little impact on the d-s, d-t and prevalence of dental caries considering both noncavitated and cavitated lesions.

Socioeconomic inequalities in the distribution of dental caries in Brazilian preschool children.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the inequality in caries distribution and the association between socioeconomic indicators and caries experience of preschool children in a city in Brazil. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in a multistage random sample of 455, 1-5-year-old children was conducted on National Children's Vaccination Day in Santa Maria, Brazil. Calibrated examiners evaluated the prevalence of dental caries and parents provided information about several socioeconomic indicators by means of a semistructured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Poisson regression model. RESULTS: The caries prevalence was 23.5 percent and the means for the decayed, missing and filled primary teeth was 0.8. A high inequality in the caries distribution with Gini coefficient of 0.8 and Significant Caries Index of 2.8 was observed. The oldest children, non-white, with mothers having low level of education and from low household income had the highest prevalence of dental caries. CONCLUSION: Socioeconomic factors are strong predictors for the inequality in caries distribution in Brazilian preschool children.