Mother’s education and family relations protect children from dental caries experience: a salutogenic approach

Abstract The objective of this study was to identify dental caries-protective factors among 5-year-old children using the salutogenic theory. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a small-sized municipality in the Southeast region of Brazil, with a representative sample of 247 children registered in preschool and their respective mothers. The data were collected through questionnaires administered to the mothers about the socioeconomic, behavioral, and biological aspects of the mother and children. Additionally, the collections included validated instruments concerning psychosocial aspects, such as a sense of coherence, resilience, family cohesion and religiosity, and intraoral examinations of the children through the decayed-missing-filled primary teeth (dmft) index. All examinations were performed by a trained and calibrated examiner. The non-adjusted and adjusted odds ratios (OR) and their respective confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using multiple logistic regression with a hierarchical model. Among the examined children, 41.7% were caries-free. In the final model, the chances of the absence of dental caries experience (dmft = 0) were greater in children with mothers who had higher education levels (> 8 years of study) (OR = 2.55 [95%CIi:1.42–4.59]) and those who lived in an environment of high family cohesion (OR = 3.66 [95%CI: 1.19–11.29]). The results indicated that mothers’ level of education and family relationships are protective factors against dental caries in 5-year-old children, which overlapped with behavioral and biological factors.