Socioeconomic Association of Dental Caries Preventive Effects of Fluoride Varnishes and Nutritional Status among School-Age Children of District Mardan

Background. Dental caries is a major cause of concern in school-age children, especially in low-income countries. It is established that socioeconomic factors, nutrition, and access to prevention services all influence to the prevalence of caries, but there is little local evidence on this subject in the Mardan District. Aim. To investigate the association between socioeconomic status, fluoride varnish use, nutritional status, and dental caries prevention among school-age children in the Mardan District. Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 400 school-age children aged 6 to 12 years. A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data. The clinical examination was performed to estimate the dental caries status. The nutritional status was measured using BMI-for-age growth charts. The data about using fluoride varnishes was documented. Associations were analyzed using chi-square tests with statistical significance set at p <0.05. Results. The average age of respondents was 9.1±1.8 years. 52.5% of respondents were male and 47.5% female. The majority of children were in the low (38.0%) and middle (42.5%) socioeconomic classes. Children of low socioeconomic status (SES) (62.5%) had a higher prevalence of dental caries compared to those of middle and high SES (44.1 and 28.2% respectively, p < 0.001). Children who received fluoride varnish had significantly lower dental caries prevalence (32.4%) compared to those who did not received it (58.9%) (p <0.001). Underweight children had the highest prevalence of dental caries (61.8%) compared to normal-weight (41.7%) and overweight children, with statistically significant relationship (p = 0.002). Children of low SES who were underweight and did not received fluoride varnish (68.4%) and children of high SES with normal nutritional status who received fluoride varnish (21.6%) had the highest and lowest dental caries burdens, respectively. Conclusion. Dental caries in school-age children in the Mardan District are closely related to socioeconomic status, nutrition status, and use of fluoride varnish. School-based interventions promoting dental caries prevention and dental care as well as nutritional enhancement, especially among children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, should be integrated to reduce the burden of dental caries in school-aged children.

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