Experience, Prevalence, and Severity of Dental Caries in Mexican Preschool and School-Aged Children

Crystel G Vera-Virrueta; Fátima Sansores-Ambrosio; Juan F Casanova-Rosado; Mirna I Minaya-Sánchez; Alejandro J Casanova-Rosado; Juan A Casanova-Sarmiento; Saraí C Guadarrama-Reyes; Rubén de la Rosa-Santillana; Carlo E Medina-Solís; Gerardo Maupomé

doi:10.7759/cureus.51079

Experience, Prevalence, and Severity of Dental Caries in Mexican Preschool and School-Aged Children

Cureus. 2023 Dec 25;15(12):e51079. doi: 10.7759/cureus.51079. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Affiliations

¹ School of Dentistry, Autonomous University of Campeche, Campeche, MEX.
² Faculty of Dentistry, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Toluca, MEX.
³ Academic Area of Dentistry of Health Sciences Institute, Autonomous University of Hidalgo State, Pachuca, MEX.
⁴ Advanced Studies and Research Center in Dentistry "Dr. Keisaburo Miyata" School of Dentistry, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Toluca, MEX.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA.

Abstract

Objective Dental caries in Mexico continues to be a public health problem, indicated by it is high prevalence and incidence in children. This disease is associated with pain in preschool and school children, with large-scale consequences for the individual, society, and health systems. The objective of the present study was to determine the experience (mean of caries indices), prevalence, and severity of caries in children 2-12 years of age who sought dental care at a dental school in Mexico. Material and methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on 826 clinical records of patients ages 2-12 years. The dependent variable was caries, in terms of experience (mean primary teeth (dmft) and permanent teeth (DMFT) indices), prevalence (dmft and DMFT greater than 0), and severity (cutoffs of caries indices at various levels). The independent variables were age and sex. The data were analyzed in Stata 14 (StataCorp LLC, College Station, Texas). Results The average age was 7.2±2.3; 52.4% were boys. In the primary dentition, the caries experience (mean dmft) was 3.01±3.30, the prevalence of caries was 65.8%, and the severity dmft>3=37.3% and dmft>6=15.6%. In the permanent dentition, the caries experience (mean DMFT) was 0.99±1.88, the prevalence of caries was 31.5%, and the severity DMFT>3=12.5% and DMFT>6=1.6%. The percentage of caries-free children in both dentitions was 26.1% (n=216/826). The experience, prevalence, and severity of caries were statistically different by age (p<0.001). Only in the severity of dmft>3 were differences observed across sex (p<0.05). Among children with mixed dentition, primary teeth were more affected than permanent teeth (2.46±2.87 vs 0.88±1.61; p<0.0001). Conclusions About seven out of 10 children were affected by cavities in either or both dentitions. It was observed that age was positively associated with dental caries, equally affecting girls and boys. In this sample, the primary dentition was impacted more than the permanent dentition. Despite being preventable, dental caries continues to be a health problem in children.

Keywords: child; deciduous tooth; dental caries; oral health; permanent dentition; preschool child.