Caries experience in children under 5 years old in the Xingu indigenous park in Brazil

Aim: The present study sought to investigate dental caries experience and its association with sociodemographic, postnatal and breastfeeding variables in children in the agerange from 6 to 71 months of age, in the Xingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study that used secondary data pertaining to 402 indigenous children of the Low, Middle and Eastern Xingu regions, who participated in the Oral Health Epidemiological Survey in 2013. The dependent variable was dental caries, dichotomized by the median (dmf-t≤1 and dmf-t>1). The data of independent variables were obtained by means of instruments of the Local Health Information System of the Xingu Indigenous Special Sanitary District (DSEI). Raw analyses were performed to test the association of the independent variables with the dependent variable. The variables were tested in the multiple logistic regression model. Results: The mean value of the dmf-t index was 2.60 and the prevalence of affected children was 51%. In the multiple analysis, only children older than 36 months (OR: 6.64; CI95%: 4.11 to 10.73) and those that were breastfed for a longer period of time (OR: 1.88; CI95%: 1.16 to 3.02) showed significant association with the dmf-t>1 index. Conclusion: Childhood dental caries among indigenous children was associated with age and breastfeeding prolonged for over 26 months, therefore, pointing out the need to offer dental follow-up care at earlier ages.