Table 2.
Association among caries experience in the primary dentition and the answers to the questionnaire concerning oral health-related behaviors.
| Questions | N (N = 513) | Caries experience in the primary dentition | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “No” (n = 419) median (IQR) | “Yes” (n = 94) median (IQR) | |||
| How often does the patient brush his teeth? | 2 (1-2) | 2 (1-2) | 2 (1-2) | ^0.077 ns |
|
| ||||
| How often does the patient eat between meals? | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 1 (1-2) | 1 (1-2) | 2 (1-3) | ^0.002∗∗ |
|
| ||||
| Does the patient often have candies and sweets between meals? | ||||
| No | 147 | 132 (89.8%) | 15 (10.2%) | °0.003∗∗ |
| Yes | 141 | 108 (76.6%) | 33 (23.4%) | |
| If yes, how often? | ^0.671 ns | |||
| Median (IQR) | 1 (1-2) | 1 (1-2) | 1 (1-2) | |
|
| ||||
| Has the patient ever been visited by a dentist? | ||||
| Yes | 105 | 83 (79.0%) | 22 (21.0%) | °0.139 ns |
| No | 183 | 157 (85.8%) | 26 (14.2%) | |
| If yes, how many times a year? | ^0.001∗∗ | |||
| Median (IQR) | 1 (1-2) | 1 (1-2) | 1 (1-2) | |
|
| ||||
| Topical fluoride application? | ||||
| Yes | 47 | 39 (82.98) | 8 (17.02) | °0.924 ns |
| No | 237 | 198 (83.54) | 39 (16.46) | |
|
| ||||
| Has the patient taken or is he still taking fluoride? | ||||
| Yes | 116 | 100 (86.21) | 16 (13.79) | °0.273 ns |
| No | 171 | 139 (81.29) | 32 (18.71) | |
|
| ||||
| Is the patient using a fluoride toothpaste? | ||||
| Yes | 228 | 189 (82.89) | 39 (17.11) | °0.734 ns |
| No | 59 | 50 (84.75) | 9 (15.25) | |
|
| ||||
| Does the patient have sealings? | ||||
| Yes | 11 | 7 (63.64) | 4 (36.36) | °0.075 ns |
| No | 276 | 232 (84.06) | 44 (15.94) | |
|
| ||||
| Breastfeeding? | ||||
| Yes | 242 | 199 (82.23) | 43 (17.77) | °0.139 ns |
| No | 45 | 41 (91.11) | 4 (8.89) | |
| If yes, how long? | ||||
| <10 months | 161 | 137 (85.09) | 24 (14.91) | °0.101 ns |
| ≥10 months | 81 | 62 (76.54) | 19 (23.46) | |
|
| ||||
| Do you think your child may have caries? | ||||
| No | 244 | 223 (91.39) | 21 (8.61) | °0.001∗∗ |
| Yes | 43 | 17 (39.53) | 26 (60.47) | |
|
| ||||
| Does the patient have sweet drinks or sweet food before going to bed? | ||||
| No | 201 | 174 (86.57) | 27 (13.43) | °0.039∗ |
| Yes | 86 | 66 (76.74) | 20 (23.26) | |
|
| ||||
| When (age in months) did you start brushing his/her teeth? | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 24 (15 36) | 24 (12 36) | 29 (24 36) | ^0.010∗∗ |
|
| ||||
| Do you always brush your child's teeth even when tired? | ||||
| Always | 80 | 66 (82.50) | 14 (17.50) | °0.891 ns |
| Often | 111 | 94 (84.68) | 17 (15.32) | |
| Sometimes | 83 | 70 (84.34) | 13 (15.66) | |
| Never | 13 | 10 (76.92) | 3 (23.08) | |
|
| ||||
| Do you think children's teeth are important? | ||||
| Of course | 225 | 188 (83.56) | 37 (16.44) | °0.989 ns |
| Yes | 55 | 46 (83.64) | 9 (16.36) | |
| No | 7 | 6 (85.71) | 1 (14.29) | |
°χ2 test or Fisher's exact test; ^Mann–Whitney test; ∗∗p < 0.01; ∗p < 0.05; ns: not significant.