IADR Abstract Archives
Relationship between reward and comfort in preschoolers and caries experience
Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between the use of food or treats as a reward and comfort of a tantrum, and experience of caries in preschoolers in Lo Prado, Chile.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 118 children between 2 and 3 years of age, in the municipality of Lo Prado, in 2015, whose parents agreed to participate by signing an informed consent. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Universidad de los Andes. An oral examination was performed using the caries lesion detection criteria, ICDAS. The parents completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding socio-demographic characteristics, hygiene, and food habits, among others. A description of the measured variables was made. Association between food use as a comfort mechanism against a tantrum or as a reward; and the experience of caries was evaluated through a logistic regression model with the software Stata 14.1.
Results: Seventy-one (60.2%) children had at least one dental surface with caries experience (ICDAS 2 or higher or presence of restauration), and 46 (39%) of their parents reported using food as a reward or to calm a tantrum. The odds ratio (OR) between the use of treats or food versus presence of caries experience was 3.18 (p-value = 0.007) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) between 1.38 and 8.06. When adjusting for age, educational level and consumption of the bottle the OR was 3.3 (p-value = 0.006, 95% CI: 1.38 and 8.02).
Conclusions: We found an association between treats as a reward and comfort of a tantrum, and experience of caries with different cutoff points of the ICDAS criteria in preschool children studied. Greater efforts must be made to change this type of habits and avoid the consumption of sugars in the population.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 118 children between 2 and 3 years of age, in the municipality of Lo Prado, in 2015, whose parents agreed to participate by signing an informed consent. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Universidad de los Andes. An oral examination was performed using the caries lesion detection criteria, ICDAS. The parents completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding socio-demographic characteristics, hygiene, and food habits, among others. A description of the measured variables was made. Association between food use as a comfort mechanism against a tantrum or as a reward; and the experience of caries was evaluated through a logistic regression model with the software Stata 14.1.
Results: Seventy-one (60.2%) children had at least one dental surface with caries experience (ICDAS 2 or higher or presence of restauration), and 46 (39%) of their parents reported using food as a reward or to calm a tantrum. The odds ratio (OR) between the use of treats or food versus presence of caries experience was 3.18 (p-value = 0.007) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) between 1.38 and 8.06. When adjusting for age, educational level and consumption of the bottle the OR was 3.3 (p-value = 0.006, 95% CI: 1.38 and 8.02).
Conclusions: We found an association between treats as a reward and comfort of a tantrum, and experience of caries with different cutoff points of the ICDAS criteria in preschool children studied. Greater efforts must be made to change this type of habits and avoid the consumption of sugars in the population.