Abstract:
Objective: To investigate factors associated with dental caries experience in preschool children with cerebral palsy attending physical therapy programs in non-governmental rehabilitation centers in Bangkok. Materials and Methods: This research is a cross sectional study of 60 children with cerebral palsy, aged 3-6 years, mean age 5.01 ± 1.23 years old. Dental caries experience was determined by dmfs index, numbers of surfaces of dental caries, extracted tooth, and filled tooth. The other variables were collected including: dental plaque index (OHI-S), type of cerebral palsy, frequency of carbohydrate intake events, dietary consistency, assisting with toothbrushing, and frequency of toothbrushing. Multiple linear regression analysis was carried out to test the relationships between risk factors and dental caries experience, significant level at p < 0.05. Results: Dental caries experience in study group was 91.66%. The average decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (dmfs) were 20.30 ± 21.63 surfaces/individual. The multiple linear regression model indicated that dental caries experience was significantly associated with > 2 between meal carbohydrate food or beverages per day (p = 0.003) and spastic type of cerebral palsy (p = 0.040). No relationship was found with the other factors. Conclusion: Dental caries experience of preschool children with cerebral palsy associated with frequency of carbohydrate between meals more than 2 times per day and the spastic type of CP.
