Prevalence of premature primary tooth loss and contributing factors inpreschool children of Babol City, Iran, 2018

Background and aim: early loss of deciduous teeth has negative effects on chewing function, aesthetics, self-esteem, and permanent dentition. this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of premature primary tooth loss and the contributing factors in children aged 36-71 months in babol city, north of iran.methods: in this cross-sectional study, 558 healthy preschool children underwent oral examination to record the type and frequency of premature tooth loss and silness-loe plaque index. the parents were then asked to fill out a questionnaire about the related factors. data were evaluated by spss software and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (anova), independent samples t-test, and multiple linear regression analysis. the level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.results: the frequency rate of missing primary teeth was 1.56% estimated in 13.62% of children. the mean number of missing teeth showed a significant difference among different subgroups of children classified based on parent’s education (p = 0.001), socio-economic status (p = 0.001), child's age (p = 0.020), plaque index (p = 0.001), frequency of consumption of cariogenic snacks (p = 0.001), and brushing (p = 0.001). according to multiple linear regression test, father's educational level, socio-economic status, plaque index, and frequency of consumption of cariogenic snacks were correlated with the number of missing teeth.conclusion: less than one-seventh of children had at least one premature missing primary tooth. child's age, parent’s educational level, socio-economic status, frequency of consumption of cariogenic snacks, plaque index, and brushing are related to premature primary tooth loss.