The impact of preterm birth on oral and dental health and its relationship with early childhood caries

THE IMPACT OF PRETERM BİRTH ON ORAL AND DENTAL HEALTH AND ITS RELATİONSHİP WİTH EARLY CHİLDHOOD CARİES Objective: This study aimed to evaluate oral and dental health in preterm infants using different indices and to compare the prevalence of Early Childhood Caries (ECC) between preterm and full-term infants, considering sociodemographic and nutritionrelated risk factors. Methods: The study included a total of 257 children (131 girls and 126 boys) aged between 32-76 months who applied to the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Faculty of Dentistry. Children born at 36 weeks of gestation or earlier were classified as the "Preterm" group, while those born at 37 weeks or later were classified as the "Full-term" group. Sociodemographic, prenatal, and postnatal data, which could be potential risk factors for ECC, were recorded. Oral and dental health data were evaluated using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS II), dmft index, gingival index, and plaque index. The obtained data were analyzed statistically. Results: The prevalence of ECC was 65.4% in full-term children and 65.3% in preterm children. There was no statistically significant difference between preterm and fullterm children in terms of mean dmft value, plaque index, gingival index, ICDAS II classification, or presence of ECC (p>0.05). Variables such as the father's education level, maternal drug use during pregnancy, lack of breastfeeding, dipping pacifiers in sugar, daily frequency of sugary snacks, toothbrushing frequency, parental awareness of oral and dental health, and maternal caries presence were found to significantly affect the dmft results (p<0.05). Conclusion: The data show that ECC is complex and can be impacted by environmental, nutritional, and individual factors, even if there is no correlation between ECC and premature birth. Keywords: early childhood, caries, preterm birth, low birth weight