Oral Health of Adolescents who had Early Childhood Caries

Objectives: Dental caries has been shown to be the most prevalent chronic disease in early childhood. Early childhood caries (ECC) has been linked to higher caries experience in adolescence and adulthood. Factors associated with dental caries are also associated with other oral health measures. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of ECC on oral health outcomes in adolescence. Methods: A matched case-control study was designed to assess the differences between 11- to 13-year-old children who had comprehensive dental treatment under general anaesthesia in early childhood and those who had minimal dental problems. The case group was selected from the Paediatric Dentistry records and the control group was either volunteered by the case group or were frequency matched based on age, gender, and socio-economic status from School Dental Service records. All children completed questionnaires assessing their oral health behaviours, dietary habits, and an oral health examination that recorded the dental caries, dental erosion, periodontal health, and malocclusion status of the permanent teeth present. Results: This study had a low response rate with only 23 percent of the invited case group participating. The socio-demographic characteristics of the two groups were similar except for age. The case group were older (0.4 years) and a lower proportion had ever lived in an area with fluoridated water (p<0.05). The case group had a higher caries experience (p<0.001), were more than four times more likely to have caries (p<0.005), and had a higher prevalence of severe dental erosion (p<0.005) than the control group. There were no significant findings with relation to the assessed dietary factors and oral health measures. Conclusions: Children who had ECC had poorer oral health outcomes at 11- to 13-years-of-age than those who had minimal or no dental problems in early childhood.