Factors associated with the incidence of dental caries among schoolchildren living in a municipality with low prevalence of dental caries

The literature has shown that poorer levels of oral health are more frequently related to lower socio-economic status, consequently this cross-sectional and exploratory study conducted in 2003 investigated the association between caries and socio-economic factors, access to care, self-perception and habits among 266 12-year-old schoolchildren living in a community with low prevalence of dental caries. World Health Organization dental caries diagnosis methodology was used, in addition to the application of socio-economic and behavioral questionnaires. To identify the factors associated with dental caries, multivariate logistic regression was used and the dependent variable was synthesized into DMFT=0 and DMFT>0. Bearing in mind the limitations of a cross-sectional study, disliking the appearance of teeth, seeking dental care because of pain, studying at a state school and the head of the family being a manual worker were independently associated with dental caries. Even in a municipality with low prevalence of caries, the socio-economic status, dental care and self-perception were important factors in the incidence of dental caries among schoolchildren, and it is recommended that many factors in the bio-psychosocial context of multi-factorial dental caries should be investigated.