Dental caries is the number one chronic disease affecting young children today, disproportionately burdening rural African American children of low socio-economic status. Research has shown that beverages rich in sugar can be cariogenic, but amounts necessary to quantify as risk factors for dental caries have been varied and inconsistencies could be related to the use of inappropriate statistical analyses. Furthermore, it has been suggested that how they are consumed may play a role in their cariogenic abilities, but evidence is lacking. Given their increased consumption in African Americans, appropriately determining how beverage consumption affects deciduous teeth in young children is of great
Employing a variety of statistical approaches, this grant explores the characteristics of consumption of non- water beverages by young children as related to the prospective development of dental caries over time among children who are at an increased risk for the disease. If successful, this research can provide the dental community and parents with a better understanding of the cariogenic effects of beverages such that consumption may be altered to positively benefit the oral health of these children. Still, it has te potential to provide investigators with more appropriate statistical approaches for handling dental caries data in children with only deciduous teeth.
