At the 45th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research, researcher Margherita Fontana, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, USA, presented a study titled "Predicting Caries Risk at 30-months of age in Medical Settings." The AADR Annual Meeting was held in conjunction with the 40th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research.

In this study, researchers aimed to expand partnership with the medical community is a necessary strategy for reducing disparities in dental caries among young children and develop a caries risk tool to identify toddlers at risk of developing caries by age four through medical settings. A psychometrically defensible, 52-item caries risk questionnaire was completed by primary caregivers (PCG), while children received caries examinations using the ICDAS criteria, at baseline (child 12±3 months-of-age), and 18 months after (child 30±3 months-of-age). From three study sites, 1,056 children (out of 1,326 recruited) stratified by race/ethnicity and Medicaid status completed 18-month exams. Caries (dmft; d=ICDAS-3) was assessed and tested for association with each questionnaire item individually using generalized estimating equation models applied to logistic regression.

The results determined that minority, Medicaid and rural children had higher caries rates at 30 months-of-age. Several questions were associated with cavitated caries at 30 months-of-age. This researcher was supported by NIH Grant Number U01 DE021412.