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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oral Health

Sec. Preventive Dentistry

Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1635569

Risk factors of early childhood caries among preschool children in Shanghai, China: A longitudinal study

Provisionally accepted
Yating  XuYating Xu1Minyi  XuMinyi Xu1WeiHua  ZhangWeiHua Zhang2XiPing  FengXiPing Feng1JingYu  ZhanJingYu Zhan1*Yu  ZhangYu Zhang1*Xi  ChenXi Chen1*
  • 1Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital,, Shanghai, China
  • 2Shanghai Pudong New Area Eye and Dental Diseases Prevention and Treatment Center,, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Early childhood caries(ECC) has caused a growing public health burden worldwide, but there still remains a gap in the understanding of ECC in Shanghai, China. This study aims to investigate the current profile of ECC and related risk factors of new-onset caries among preschool children in Shanghai, China.: Children aged 3-5 were included in this two-year longitudinal study from Shanghai. Oral health information and related factors were collected through clinical examinations and questionnaires. Logistic and general linear regression were used to investigate the risk factors of early childhood caries. Ethical approval and informed consent form were achieved in the study. Results: A total of 192 children completed this 2-year longitudinal study with a followup rate of 80.0%. At follow-up, 70.8% of children developed new caries. The study revealed that children with lower mother's education level (p = 0.022), less father's income (p = 0.023), more frequent sugar intake (p = 0.006), and poor oral hygiene (p = 0.012) were more likely to develop new caries. Additionally, general linear regression demonstrated that children who did not use fluoride toothpaste (p = 0.006), those who consumed candy more (p = 0.028), and those with poor oral hygiene (p = 0.001) exhibited greater incremental caries. Conclusion: Lower father's income, lower mother's education level, frequent sugar consumption, non-use of fluoridated toothpaste, and poor oral hygiene status emerged as significant independent risk factors for ECC.

Keywords: early childhood caries, Incidence, Risk factors, longitudinal study, Dental Caries

Received: 26 May 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Xu, Zhang, Feng, Zhan, Zhang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
JingYu Zhan, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital,, Shanghai, China
Yu Zhang, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital,, Shanghai, China
Xi Chen, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital,, Shanghai, China

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