ARTÍCULO
Early childhood caries and risk factors in young children of medium-low socioeconomic status, Ecuador
Fecha
2020Autor
Ortiz Ulloa, Silvia Johana
Parra Coronel, Janeth Judith
Astudillo Neira, Diana Ligia de lourdes
Institución
Resumen
Introduction. Early childhood caries (ECC) is one of the most common infectious diseases for infants and
preschool children. Objective: To evaluate early childhood caries and risk factors associated with dietary practices and nutritional status in children of 10-48 months old. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 142 children of medium-low socio-economic status from a governmental child-care center in Cuenca, Ecuador. Dental health, nutritional status and dietary patterns were assessed through clinical examination, anthropometric measurements and 24-hours dietary recalls, respectively. Results: Early childhood caries prevalence was high (95.8%) mostly of advanced stage (83.1%). No associations with nutritional status. Daily consumption of cariogenic foods was significantly higher during weekdays (11.1 ± 1.4) (p<0.001). The diet was categorized as low cariogenic risk (<34). Child’s age (OR=1.1; 95% CI: 1.041, 1.160, p=0.001) and the plaque index (OR=4.9; 95% CI: 1.331, 17.82; p=0.017) were positive determinants for advanced caries. Conclusions: The deteriorated dental health of this population was evidenced, being worse at older ages without any association with dietary patterns.