Association of Early Childhood Caries with Feeding, Dietary Habits, and Oral Hygiene Practices among Rural and Urban School Children of Jaipur

AIM: To determine possible associations of early childhood caries (ECC) with risk factors such as feeding and dietary habits of children and oral hygiene practices by the parents or caregiver in rural and urban school children in Jaipur, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational cross-sectional study was designed with a dental examination and a standardized questionnaire. A total of 1,824 children, that is, 848 (46%) rural, and 976 (54%) urban school children were enrolled in the study. The data regarding their diet and feeding habits of children, oral hygiene practices of the parents or caregivers were collected with the help of a standardized questionnaire. The caries status of rural and urban school children was recorded using the decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) index. Data thus collected were compiled, analyzed and were subjected to statistical analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v 26.0, IBM). Comparison of frequencies of categories of variables with groups was done using Chi-square test with p < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The prevalence of ECC was 34.7% in rural and 45.5% in urban school children of Jaipur (p < 0.01). Caries risk increased with the use of both bottle and breast feeding, habit of milk at night, eating snacks between meals with no habit of rinsing teeth, and decrease in parental supervision during oral hygiene practices. In urban school children there is an increased access to junk food and refined sugar daily as compared to rural school children with more than two times in a week was found statistically highly significant in the study (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ECC was higher in urban school children as compared to rural school children in Jaipur. It was found that risk factors such as diet and feeding habits of children and oral hygiene practices by the parents or caregiver are strongly associated with the prevalence of ECC. It was concluded that the epidemiological data, which have been collected in a very comprehensive way can be utilized more effectively to eliminate the root cause of the disease by improving oral health services in the rural and urban school children in Jaipur, India. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Yadav SP, Meghpara M, Marwah N, et al. Association of Early Childhood Caries with Feeding, Dietary Habits, and Oral Hygiene Practices among Rural and Urban School Children of Jaipur. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2022;15(3):273-279.