Influence of different ethnicities on early childhood caries in preschool children at risk of social exclusion in Southeastern Spain.

Abstract

Aim: To estimate the prevalence of early childhood caries and to study a possible influence on different ethnicities in preschool children aged 3 to 5 with social exclusion risk.

Background: Oral diseases are a major global public health problem, with negative effects at both individual and collective levels, and there is a relationship between socioeconomic characteristics such as income, occupation and educational level, with the prevalence and severity of oral diseases.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a sample of 288 preschool children belonging to three schools in the Southeastern Spain among other variables dmft and ICDASS index.

Conclusion: The ethnicity of school children at risk of social exclusion is a determining factor in the increased prevalence of cavities in primary caries.