Age-Related Trends of Caries Experience Among Preschool Children in Shenzhen, China: A Cross-Sectional Study
Anthony Yihong Cheng, Yuanyuan Liu, Faith Miaomiao Zheng, Ivy Guofang Sun, Jieyi Chen, Chun Hung Chu

TL;DR
This study found that dental caries increase with age in preschool children in Shenzhen, China, with specific teeth being more affected.
Contribution
The study provides new insights into age-related trends of caries in preschool children in Shenzhen using a large sample and standardized methods.
Findings
Caries prevalence increased from 31% at age 3 to 58% at age 5.
Upper central incisors were most affected across all age groups.
Lower molar caries prevalence rose from 7% at age 3 to 24% at age 5.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to characterize the age-related trends of caries experience among preschool children in Shenzhen, China. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 3- to 5-year-old preschool children in Shenzhen via a multistage random sampling method in 2024. Two calibrated examiners conducted oral examinations in kindergartens using disposable dental mirrors with LED illumination and ball-ended Community Periodontal Index probes. Caries experience was recorded using the dmft index, as recommended by the World Health Organization. Results: This study invited 4015 children from 27 selected kindergartens, and 3534 children (1886 boys, 53%) completed the survey. The response rate was 88%. The prevalence of caries experience was 31% at age 3, 49% at age 4, and 58% at age 5, representing a 27% higher prevalence in 5-year-olds than in 3-year-olds. The mean dmft scores (±SD)…
Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.
Click any figure to enlarge with its caption.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsDental Health and Care Utilization · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
