ArticleCommunity dentistry and oral epidemiology2018
Examining caries aetiology in adolescence with structural equation modelling.
Article in Community dentistry and oral epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association between socioeconomic status and dental caries in adolescents - a systematic review of cohort studies.Acta odontologica Scandinavica · 2026Pooled it
- Assessment of Dental Caries among Adolescents in Private Educational Institutions of Kabul City.F1000Research · 2026Article
- Dietary and Hygiene-Related Knowledge Versus Reported Behaviors of Eighteen-Year-Olds: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Subgroup detection-based dental caries status and inequalities trend exploration: A nationwide, 10-year-repeated cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Trend on dental caries status and its risk indicators in children aged 12 years in China: a multilevel analysis based on the repeated national cross-sectional surveys in 2005 and 2015.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Implementation fidelity of school oral health programs at a District in South Africa.PloS one · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThis analysis examines the aetiology of caries development in adolescents using structural equation modelling to identify behavioural mediators of the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and caries incidence, and to investigate the role of sex on caries-preventive behaviour and caries.
methodsThis analysis was based on data from the Iowa Fluoride Study, a longitudinal study of a birth cohort. We hypothesized that socioeconomic status earlier in life has a direct effect on caries development and an indirect effect from improved behavioural variables-dental visit attendance, toothbrushing frequency and percentage of beverage intake consisting of sugar-sweetened beverages-and that sex also plays a role in behavioural variables, as well as caries. A structural equation model was developed based on these hypotheses, and direct and indirect standardized path coefficients were calculated, as well as their standard errors.
resultsBased on our proposed model, SES at birth significantly influences SES during adolescence, but not adolescent behaviours. The effect of SES during adolescence on caries in the permanent dentition is mediated by adolescent behaviours. Female participants have worse caries than male participants, despite lower self-reported percentages of sugar-sweetened beverage intake and more frequent brushing and dental attendance.
conclusionsThis analysis models the relationships among known causal factors for caries and suggests that the role of SES in caries may not be as important as previously thought and different behaviours that affect oral health between males and females as well as differences in caries between the sexes could begin during adolescence. These findings could help improve caries prevention programmes for adolescents.
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