Caries risk factors among three-year old children in Chiba, Japan.

In order to predict the factors which affect the occurrence of dental caries in children after the age 18-months, we analyzed the relationship between the increment of the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) in children from 18-months to three-years of age and caries risk factors. Subjects were 392 infants who received both an 18-month-old check-up and a three-year-old check-up in Chiba city. Stepwise multiple logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the results with the increment of the dmft by various combinations of independent variables (sex, order of birth, sweets intake, beverage intake, tooth brushing and feeding). The most predictive factors for the increment of the dmft in upper anterior and molar were "breast feeding" and "bottle feeding" respectively. From these results, we concluded that bottle feeding and breast feeding were the risk factors for the increment of the dmft from the age of 18-months to three years.