Impact of lifestyle factors on caries experience in three different age groups: 9, 15, and 21-year-olds

Objectives To study the impact of lifestyle factors on dental caries experiences in addition to the effect of demographic characteristics at the ages of 9, 15, and 21 years. Methods The data were obtained from the study ‘Oral health in children and adolescents in the Netherlands’. Data were collected through questionnaires and a clinical oral examination. Because the DMFS count data were highly skewed with a peak at zero, the negative binomial hurdle model was used for the analyses. The first part of the hurdle predicted the probability of having caries experience or not, and the second part predicted the degree of caries experience. Results For the 9- and 15-year-old age groups, the breakfast frequency per week was related with having caries experience, while the frequency of brushing teeth per day was related with the degree of caries experience. In addition, the number of food and drinks consumed per day was important for the younger age group. These relations were not found in the 21-year-olds age group. Conclusions Findings of this study suggest that components to promote structure and regularity, including having breakfast and the number of food and drink moments, may be important to include in programs to prevent dental caries in children.