National pathfinder survey on children's oral health in Italy: pattern and severity of caries disease in 4-year-olds

This paper describes the dental health status of Italian 4-year-olds in 2004/2005 and analyzes the association between caries in preschool children and some background characteristics in children and parents. Caries was recorded according to WHO criteria. 5,538 subjects were examined. Information on the children's and their parents' social, behavioral, ethnic and demographic status was obtained through a series of closed questions. Bivariate analysis was performed to investigate the association between caries and background characteristics. The probability of being an extra zero for the dmfs index was estimated via the zero-inflated negative binomial regression model (ZINB). 78.4% (95% CI = 77.2-79.6) of the children were caries-free. The national mean dmfs index was 1.36 (95% CI = 1.15-1.57), ranging from 1.22 (95% CI = 1.03-1.42) in the Italian North-East to 1.73 (95% CI = 0.83-2.63) in the South section. Significant bivariate associations between caries experience and risk factors were observed for parents' nationality (not Italian vs. Italian: p < 0.001), parents' educational levels (low vs. high: p < 0.001), preterm birth (yes vs. no: p = 0.011), prolonged breastfeeding (</=13 months vs. >13 months: p = 0.038) and early tooth eruption (<6 months as reference: p = 0.004). Multivariable analysis (ZINB) showed that children with a low caries risk level had a higher probability of being an extra zero; in particular, children from fathers with a high educational level showed a probability of being an extra zero of 0.22. The results suggest a need to plan preventive programs to reduce oral health disparities among Italian preschool children, based on educational intervention with parents and children concerning oral health and caries prevention.