Early Dental Caries and Their Associated International Classifications of Disease Morbidity: A 16-Year Population Study

Objective: The study objective was to examine the relationship between dental caries diagnosed before the age of four and ICD diseases over a 16-year period. Methods: The sample of approximately 33,531 (48% female) individuals having a total of 2,864,790 physician diagnoses over 16 years comprised a the cohort two groups, one with (2.7% of the sample) and one without dental caries (dependent variable) that were under the age of four years in the first two years of the sample data. Categories of dental caries and associated gingivitis and periodontal disease were based on the International Classification of Disease (ICD Version 9) diagnostic codes 521-523. The sample was described. Odds ratios comparing those with and without dental caries and the main ICD classes were calculated. Additionally, the ratio of each ICD diagnosis frequency comparing the cohort groups were calculated and represented the diagnoses assigned over the first 15 physician visits. Results: Males had proportionally more dental caries diagnosed. Diagnoses were made predominantly by general practitioners. Within the dental caries cohort group, associated ICD diagnoses were over-represented in both odds ratios and within individual ICD diagnoses on the first diagnosis and over the first 15 diagnoses in time. Conclusion: Dental caries diagnosed in very young children before the age of four are associated with multi-morbidity over subsequent years. Sex differences and patterns of associated morbidity may contribute to a better understanding of early life vulnerability to dental caries and their sequelae.