Caries experience in disabled pre-school children.

The parents of 436 disabled pre-school children were interviewed about habits and problems relevant to dental health. The children, who represented 10 different disabling conditions, were examined and dmft registered. The purpose was to study the relationship between different background variables and caries experience. The dmft score was analyzed in accordance with several sociocultural, medical, and habitual variables, using a multiple classification analysis (MCA). The number of daily carbohydrate intakes, duration of use of nursing bottle, family income, and diagnosis were the variables with the strongest association with dmft. Children with congenital heart disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis had a considerably higher adjusted dmft than the other diagnostic groups. The proportion of children with caries experience was higher in the present survey than in groups of Norwegian children of corresponding age.