Parent's adverse childhood experiences investigation of the relationship with ECC in their child

Aim: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are experiences that can be transferred from generation to generation and indirectly affect general and oral health. The aim of this study was to examine the behavioral health conditions associated with parents' retrospective ACE scores and their child's early childhood caries (ECC) in a national family sample. Material and Methods: Children younger than 72 months were included in the study. A relational screening model was used; The research was carried out on the variables of ACE, ECC, nutritional habits, oral hygiene habits. In the study, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was established and in the model, gender, mother's education level, father's education level, socioeconomic status, breastfeeding at night, using a bottle at night, using a toothbrush, tooth brushing frequency, preterm birth conditions, dentist visit, PI, GI, cariogenic nutrition scores, and ACE score variables were used. Results: While the mean age of 535 participants in the study was 46.5 months, 52% were female. In the participants included in the study, there was a statistically significant relationship between both the S-ECC and ECC groups and the educational status of the mothers and the socioeconomic status of the family (p<0.05). If the number of snacks was ≥3, the risk of ECC was statistically significantly higher (p=0.034). The parent's ACE score was found to be effective on both ECC and S-ECC formation (p=0.001). The higher the ACE score, the higher the risk of S-ECC. The mean ACE scores of the parents were also significantly higher in both the ECC and S-ECC groups than in the children without dental caries (p=0.001). In the ANN model, the three most important risk factors were found to be ACE score, father's education level and dentist visit. Conclusion: If ACE screening at the dentist or general health visits can be improved, future research should focus on improving early intervention methods and minimizing general health and dental health disparities. Key Words: Adverse childhood experiences, Early childhood caries, Cariogenic nutrition index, Oral hygiene, Artificial neural network.