Influence of family structure on dental caries experience of preschool children: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Dental caries is the most common oral disease affecting preschoolers. Despite the improvement in oral hygiene practices and dietary habits, no evident decline in their decayed, missing, and filled teeth levels was observed, which shifts away the focus of understanding its etiology from primarily a dietary-induced bacterial infection to a rather complex disease with multiple contributing factors. Aim: The aim is to explore the impact of parental characteristics and family structure on dental caries experience of preschoolers. Subjects and Methods: Dental caries status of 200 children, aged 3–5 years in Chidambaram was assessed using the WHO standard criteria for primary teeth and informations on family structure were obtained from parents using questionnaire. Results: Family size, birth rank, age difference between the subject and siblings, parent's age, and educational status of parents were found to be associated with the dental caries experience of the preschoolers at bivariate level. In a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis family size, birth rank, and mother's educational status remained statistically significant. Conclusion: Family structure might significantly affect the caries experience of preschool children.