OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the social and biological conditions experienced in early life and dental caries in 6-year-old children, using a life course approach. METHODS: An oral health cross-sectional study was nested in a birth cohort study initiated in Pelotas, Brazil in 1993. In 1999, a sample of 400 6-year-old children was selected from the cohort. The criteria of the World Health Organization (1997) were used for dental caries. The results from the dental caries study were analyzed in relation to the socioeconomic and morbidity data collected at birth, and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, and the sixth year of life. Dental caries were measured through the decayed, missing and filled index (dmft). Unconditional univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed according to a conceptual model. RESULTS: Risk factors for the occurrence of dental caries included maternal education equal or less than 8 years, family income lower than six minimum wages, not attending day care, and consumption of sweets at least once a day at age 6. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for oral health care should include inter-sector approaches for health promotion based on a population strategy and a common risk approach.
Dental caries; Cohort; Early life; Social class; Risk factors
