Impact of early childhood caries severity on oral health-related quality of life among preschool children in Mexico: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Information is scarce on Early Childhood Caries (ECC) in Mexican preschool children and its impact on quality of life.

Aim: To evaluate the ECC prevalence and its impact on OHRQoL in 3-5 years-old Mexican children according to disease severity.

Design: Caries was determined at two thresholds: (1) children with at least one caries lesion (ICDAS-1-6) and (2) children with at least one lesion in dentin (ICDAS-3-6). OHRQoL was assessed through the Mexican Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (M-ECOHIS). Associations among caries severity, M-ECOHIS, and other variables were assessed by ordinal logistic regression.

Results: A total of 409 children participated (53.8% girls, 46.2% boys). Caries prevalence was 82.2% considering all lesions, and 45.0% for dentinal lesions. Significant linear trends (p < .05) among caries levels and categories of exposure were found for socioeconomic variables, dietary habits, and toothbrushing habits. Attending rural private schools (OR = 1.39, 95%CI = 1.11-1.72; p < .01), two main meals/day (OR = 2.75, 95%CI = 1.26-6.03; p = .01) and unsupervised toothbrushing (OR = 3.20, 95%CI = 1.96-5.24; p < .01) increased the risk to have high caries severity levels. M-ECOHIS scores were statistically significant associated with caries levels (χ  = 175.85, p < .01; trend across groups z = 12.63 Prob > |z| < 0.01).

Conclusions: M-ECOHIS was significantly associated with caries severity. Type of school, age groups, parents' educational level, family income, and living conditions were correlated with caries, showing how distinctive risk indicators were associated with different caries stages.