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Oral health and oral health-related behaviour in preschool children: evidence for a social gradient

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the social gradient in the reported oral health-related behaviour and oral health status of preschool children. Participants were 1,057 children born between October 2003 and July 2004 in Flanders, Belgium. Oral health examinations were performed by trained dentists when the children were 3 and 5 years old (respectively, in 2007 and 2009); data on dietary habits, oral hygiene habits and dental attendance of the children were obtained through structured questionnaires completed by the parents. Maternal educational level, measured in four categories, was used as a proxy of socio-economic status. Logistic and ordinal regressions showed a social gradient for the oral health-related behaviours: a lower educational level of the mother was related to a higher consumption of sugared drinks between meals and to a lower brushing frequency and dental attendance of the child. Children from low-educated mothers also had seven times more chance to present with caries experience than children from mothers with a bachelor degree. Contrary to the expectations, there was a deviation from the gradient in 3-year-olds from the highest educational group showing an increased risk for caries experience (OR = 3.84, 95 % CI = 1.08–13.65). Conclusion. Already in very young children, a graded relationship is observed between socio-economic position, oral health and related behaviours. The results suggest that different approaches are required to promote oral health during early childhood depending on the mother’s educational background. As children from the highest social group also have an increased caries risk, specific techniques may be needed.

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Acknowledgments

The following partners collaborated in the ‘Smile for Life Project’: Dominique Declerck (Project coordinator) and Roos Leroy (both from the Department of Oral Health Sciences, KU Leuven); Karel Hoppenbrouwers (Center of Youth Health Care, KU Leuven); Emmanuel Lesaffre (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands); Stephan Vanden Broucke (Department of Psychology, Université Catholique de Louvain and Health Psychology, KU Leuven); Luc Martens (Dental School, Ghent University); and Erwin Van Kerschaver and Martine Debyser (Child and Family). The study was supported financially by GABA Benelux and GABA International. Special thanks to Luc Naert (Child and Family) for providing additional data from the Ikaros database.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Youth Health Care, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35, Block D PO 7001, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    S. Van den Branden & K. Hoppenbrouwers

  2. Department of Psychology, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    S. Van den Broucke

  3. Health Psychology, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    S. Van den Broucke

  4. Department of Oral Health Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    R. Leroy & D. Declerck

Authors
  1. S. Van den Branden
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  2. S. Van den Broucke
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  3. R. Leroy
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  4. D. Declerck
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  5. K. Hoppenbrouwers
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Correspondence to S. Van den Branden.

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Van den Branden, S., Van den Broucke, S., Leroy, R. et al. Oral health and oral health-related behaviour in preschool children: evidence for a social gradient. Eur J Pediatr 172, 231–237 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-012-1874-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-012-1874-6

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