Introduction:

Severe early childhood caries is a public health problem affecting sufferers and their families.

Objective:

Determine the association of sociodemographic, hygiene and food intake variables to severe early childhood caries in Peruvian children.

Methods:

An observational analytical case-control study was conducted from October to December 2019. The study sample was 264 children aged 2-5 years (100 from the group without caries and 164 from the group with severe early childhood caries) and their companions, who attended the Children's Dental Care Department at the National Children's Health Institute in Lima, Peru. Direct structured interviews were held based on closed-ended questions about sociodemographic, hygiene and food intake variables, and a clinical evaluation was performed using the cpo-s index. Use was made of the chi-square statistical test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the binary logistic regression model.

Results:

Among the sociodemographic variables considered, a negative dental care experience and health insurance obtained a value of p < 0.05. The same result was obtained by use of fluoride toothpaste, bottle feeding, bottle feeding time and age at tooth brushing start. In the binary logistic regression model only the variables use of fluoride toothpaste (OR = 0.578; 95 % CI: 0.495-0.674) and age at tooth brushing start (OR = 0.924; 95 % CI: 0.850-0.938) obtained a value of p < 0.05.

Conclusions:

The variables age at tooth brushing start and use of fluoride toothpaste are associated to the appearance of severe early childhood caries in Peruvian children. Sociodemographic and food intake variables are not associated.

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