IADR Abstract Archives

The Relationship Between Oral Hygiene Practices and Caries Experience Among Irish pre-School Children.

Objectives: The main objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the oral hygiene behaviours of Irish preschool children with and without caries. The relationship between water fluoridation status and caries experience, as well as the influence of variables including age of brushing commencement, brushing frequency, toothpaste use and rinsing habits, were investigated.
Methods: A cohort of pre-school children were divided into two groups: 1) caries active (CA) recruited at Cork University Hospital and 2) caries free (CF) recruited at local disadvantaged schools in Cork City. The responses to questionnaires were formatted within Microsoft Office Excel (2007). Contingency tables with Pearson chi-square tests were performed and distribution, central tendency as well as dispersion for the variables were calculated in Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS, Version 26) software by IBM.
Results: The sample (n=117) included 54.3% of children in the CA group and 45.7% in the CF group, with a mean age of 50 months and mean dmft value of 3.6. In this cohort, 102 children were served by fluoridated water and 15 children were served by non-fluoridated water. 93.3% of children from non-fluoridated areas had a CA status, compared to 49% of children living in fluoridated areas (p=0.001). 74.4% of children who were using more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste had a CA status, in contrast to 47.5% of children who were using a pea-sized amount (p=0.006). 62.7% of children who rinsed after brushing were in the CA group, compared to 44% of children who rinsed indirectly or didn't rinse (p=0.045).
Conclusions: In this cohort of pre-school children living in Ireland, lack of exposure to water fluoridation, incorrect toothpaste usage and inappropriate rinsing habits, were associated with caries in the primary dentition. Further research is required to validate these findings in the wider population.

2021 Irish Division Meeting (Virtual)

2021

  • Mahmood, Danish  ( Cork University , Cork , Ireland )
  • Cronin, Michael  ( University College Cork , Cork , Cork , Ireland ;  Cork University , Cork , Ireland )
  • Lucey, Siobhan  ( Cork University , Cork , Ireland )
  • Hurley, Eimear  ( Cork University , Cork , Ireland )
  • NONE
    Oral Session
    Undergraduate Hatton