Maternal oral health and behavioural factors associated with early childhood caries in children up to three years of age: a longitudinal study

PURPOSE: This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the association between maternal factors during pregnancy and dental caries experience in their children in the third year of life, measured using the modified dmfs index. METHODS: The sample comprised 223 mother-child dyads enrolled in a Maternal and Child Public Oral Health Programme, with prenatal dental care and annual child dental follow-up until 36 months of age. Maternal caries experience was assessed using the DMF-T index during pregnancy, and child caries experience was assessed using a modified dmfs index including non-cavitated enamel lesions. Maternal factors were evaluated using Poisson regression with robust variance to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% CI (α=0.05). RESULTS: Overall, 6.7% of children presented caries experience in the third year of life. A higher risk of caries experience was associated with maternal age >27 years (RRᴬ=2.50; 95% CI 1.45-4.58), medium/low maternal motivation (RRᴬ=3.96; 95% CI 2.34-6.71), maternal toothbrushing frequency ≤1 time per day (RRᴬ=2.83; 95% CI 1.24-6.46), and maternal presence of decayed (RRᴬ=3.32; 95% CI 1.17-9.46) and missing teeth due to caries (RRᴬ=7.53; 95% CI 2.65-21.37). CONCLUSION: Maternal behavioural and oral health conditions were associated with their children's caries experience at age 3 years. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening motivational and preventive oral health strategies for mother-child dyads from pregnancy onwards.