Association between occlusal anomalies and dental caries in 3- to 5 year-old Brazilian children.

Objective: To investigate the association between certain occlusal anomalies and the occurrence and severity of dental caries in Brazilian preschool children.

Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Twenty-eight public nursery schools in Canoas, southern Brazil. Methods: The study population comprised 890 three- to five-year-old children. Five trained and calibrated observers examined children for determination of decayed, missing and filled tooth (dmft) index (World Health Organization criteria including white spots) and orthodontic variables. Methods: Caries severity (dmft) and caries occurrence (dmft ≥ 1). Methods: Multivariable analysis was performed using Poisson regression with robust variance in order to determine the occlusal anomalies which represent risk factors for the occurrence of the binary outcome.

Results: Caries severity was significantly higher among children without spacing in the maxillary anterior teeth (P = 0·001) and mandibular anterior teeth (P = 0·003) and among children without accentuated overjet (P = 0·023). The multivariable analysis demonstrated that children without spacing in maxillary anterior teeth had an increased risk of dental caries (prevalence ratio = 1·43; 95% CI, 1·05-1·93). Open bite, accentuated overjet and posterior cross-bite were not associated with this outcome in the final model.

Conclusions: Absence of spacing in the maxillary labial segment represents a risk factor for dental caries in preschool children.