Kitsaras George, Goodwin Michaela, Kelly Michael P, Pretty Iain A
Dental Health Unit, Division of Dentistry, The University of Manchester, Manchester M1 5GH, UK.
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SR, UK.
Children (Basel). 2021 May 19;8(5):416. doi: 10.3390/children8050416.
Oral hygiene behaviours as well as dietary habits before bed can affect children's dental health resulting in higher prevalence of dental disease. Dental disease can affect children's health, development and even school performance. If left untreated, dental disease can progress and it can lead to extractions under general anaesthetic causing further distress for children and families. Consistent and appropriate oral hygiene behaviours and dietary habits can prevent dental diseases from occurring in the first place. This cross-sectional study examines the relationship between oral hygiene behaviours, dietary habits around bedtime and children's dental health. A total of 185 parents with children between the ages of 3 and 7 years from deprived areas participated in the study. Data on bedtime routine activities were collected using an automated text-survey system. Children's dental health status was established through examination of dental charts and dmft (decayed, missed, filled teeth) scores. : In total, 52.4% of parents reported that their children's teeth were brushed every night. The majority of children (58.9%) had dmft scores over zero. In total, 51 (46.7% of children with dmft score over 0 and 27.5% of all children) children had active decay. The mean dmft score for those experiencing decay was 2.96 (SD = 2.22) with an overall mean dmft score of 1.75 (SD = 2.24). There were significant correlations between frequency of tooth brushing, frequency of snacks/drinks before bed and dmft scores (r = -0.584, < 0.001 and r = 0.547, = 0.001 respectively). Finally, higher brushing frequency was associated with a lower likelihood of a dmft score greater than 0 (Exp(B) = 0.9). Despite families implementing oral hygiene behaviours as part of their bedtime routines those behaviours varied in their consistency. Results of this study highlight the need for additional studies that consider bedtime routine-related activities and especially the combined effects of oral hygiene practices and dietary habits due to their potentially important relationship with children's dental health.
睡前的口腔卫生行为以及饮食习惯会影响儿童的牙齿健康，导致牙齿疾病的患病率更高。牙齿疾病会影响儿童的健康、发育甚至学业表现。如果不加以治疗，牙齿疾病会进一步发展，可能导致在全身麻醉下拔牙，给儿童及其家庭带来更多痛苦。持续且适当的口腔卫生行为和饮食习惯能够从一开始就预防牙齿疾病的发生。这项横断面研究考察了口腔卫生行为、睡前饮食习惯与儿童牙齿健康之间的关系。共有185名来自贫困地区、孩子年龄在3至7岁之间的家长参与了该研究。通过自动文本调查系统收集了有关睡前日常活动的数据。通过检查牙片和dmft（龋、失、补牙）得分来确定儿童的牙齿健康状况。总共有52.4%的家长报告称他们的孩子每晚都刷牙。大多数儿童（58.9%）的dmft得分超过零。总共有51名儿童（dmft得分超过0的儿童中的46.7%，所有儿童中的27.5%）有活动性龋齿。有龋齿的儿童的平均dmft得分为2.96（标准差=2.22），总体平均dmft得分为1.75（标准差=2.24）。刷牙频率、睡前吃零食/喝饮料的频率与dmft得分之间存在显著相关性（分别为r=-0.584，P<0.001和r=0.547，P=0.001）。最后，刷牙频率越高，dmft得分大于0的可能性越低（指数(B)=0.9）。尽管家庭将口腔卫生行为作为睡前日常活动的一部分，但这些行为的一致性各不相同。本研究结果凸显了开展更多研究的必要性，这些研究应考虑与睡前日常活动相关的行为，特别是口腔卫生习惯和饮食习惯的综合影响，因为它们与儿童牙齿健康可能存在重要关系。
