Table 2.
Children's characteristics in intervention and control groups at the time of enrollment
| Control group | Intervention group | P-value* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of children | 322 | 344 | |
| Age: number of children (%) | |||
| 18–<30 months | 117/322 (36%) | 124/344 (36%) | 0.25 |
| 30–<40 months | 119/322 (37%) | 110/344 (32%) | |
| 40–<48 months | 86/322 (27%) | 110/344 (32%) | |
| Age in months: mean (95% CI) | 33.0 (32.1, 33.9) | 33.6 (32.7,34.5) | 0.31 |
| Sex: number of children (%) | |||
| Male | 169/322 (52%) | 171/344 (50%) | 0.47 |
| Female | 153/322 (48%) | 173/344 (50%) | |
| Caries experience: number of children (%) | |||
| No cavitated carious surfaces | 117/322 (36%) | 134/344 (39%) | 0.52 |
| One or more cavitated carious surfaces | 205/322 (64%) | 210/344 (61%) | |
| No arrested carious surfaces | 297/322 (92%) | 302/344 (88%) | 0.07 |
| One or more arrested carious surfaces | 25/322 (8%) | 42/344 (12%) | |
| No filled surfaces | 322/322 (100%) | 343/344 (100%) | 1.00 |
| One or more filled surfaces | 0/322 (0%) | 1/344 (0%) | |
| No missing tooth surfaces | 318/322 (99%) | 338/344 (98%) | 0.75 |
| One or more missing tooth surfaces | 4/322 (1%) | 6/344 (2%) | |
| No caries experience (d3mfsa = 0) | 113/322 (35%) | 125/344 (36%) | 0.53 |
| One or more surfaces with caries experience (d3mfs > 0) | 209/322 (65%) | 219/344 (64%) | |
| Number of surfaces with caries experience per child [d3mfs]: mean (95% CI) | 4.6 (3.9, 5.2) | 4.9 (4.2, 5.6) | 0.55 |
| Other dental conditions: number of children (%) | |||
| No precavitated carious surfaces | 161/322 (50%) | 181/344 (53%) | 0.61 |
| One or more precavitated carious surfaces | 161/322 (50%) | 163/344 (47%) | |
| No surfaces with opacity | 96/322 (30%) | 109/344 (32%) | 0.52 |
| One or more surfaces with opacity | 226/322 (70%) | 235/344 (68%) | |
| No surfaces with hypoplasia | 209/322 (65%) | 214/344 (62%) | 0.75 |
| One or more surfaces with hypoplasia | 113/322 (35%) | 130/344 (38%) | |
| Recommendation for caries treatment: number of children (%) | |||
| No caries treatment needed | 188/322 (58%) | 175/344 (51%) | 0.06 |
| Treatment needed when convenient | 121/322 (38%) | 144/344 (42%) | |
| Treatment needed as soon as possible | 13/322 (4%) | 25/344 (7%) | |
| Treatment needed immediately | 0/322 (0%) | 0/344 (0%) | |
a
The d3mfs index is each child's number of cavitated, arrested, filled or missing tooth surfaces.
*
P-values test null hypothesis of equivalence between control and intervention groups using Chi-square test (age groups, treatment recommendation), t-tests (mean age, mean d3mfs) or Fisher's exact test (all other comparisons)