Caries experience in suspected physical child abuse : A comparative analysis with register-based controls
(2025) In Child Abuse & Neglect 161.- Abstract
BACKGROUND: Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) is a severe threat to children's health and well-being worldwide. Since oral and dental health are indicators of general health, dentists and dental hygienists are in a favorable position to identify potential cases of CAN.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the caries experience in primary and permanent dentition in children where physical abuse was suspected compared to controls.
PARTICIPANT AND SETTING: All cases were police-reported cases of suspected physical abuse, examined from 2020 to 2023 at the Child Advocacy Centre (CAC) in Copenhagen. Control groups were established using annual reports from the Danish Health Authority of children examined in pediatric dental... (More)
BACKGROUND: Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) is a severe threat to children's health and well-being worldwide. Since oral and dental health are indicators of general health, dentists and dental hygienists are in a favorable position to identify potential cases of CAN.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the caries experience in primary and permanent dentition in children where physical abuse was suspected compared to controls.
PARTICIPANT AND SETTING: All cases were police-reported cases of suspected physical abuse, examined from 2020 to 2023 at the Child Advocacy Centre (CAC) in Copenhagen. Control groups were established using annual reports from the Danish Health Authority of children examined in pediatric dental clinics from 2020 to 2023.
METHODS: The children underwent a comprehensive and systematic forensic medical and dental examination. The control group was matched by age and geography. The main outcome was caries experience, defined as decayed, extracted, or filled primary teeth (def-t) and decayed, missing, or filled permanent teeth (DMF-T). Logistics regression analyses were used to predict the caries experience in cases compared to controls.
RESULTS: Overall, significantly higher caries experience was found in primary dentition among cases (Chi-square, p < 0.05). Stratified by age, higher caries experience was found in the primary dentition in the 5-year-old (OR: 2.5-3.0; 95% CI 1.1-7.2) and in the permanent dentition of the 11-year-old (OR: 2.9-3.9; 95% CI 1.4-13.9) across all study years.
CONCLUSIONS: Certain age groups of suspected physically abused children exhibit significantly higher caries experience than matched controls.
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- author
- Justesen, Daniella ; Wingren, Carl Johan LU ; Teilum, Asta ; Jensen, Niels Dyrgaard ; Slot, Liselott ; Ylijoki-Sørensen, Seija ; Banner, Jytte LU and Hermann, Nuno Vibe
- publishing date
- 2025-03
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Humans, Dental Caries/epidemiology, Male, Female, Child Abuse/statistics & numerical data, Child, Preschool, Child, Denmark/epidemiology, Registries, Case-Control Studies, Infant, Tooth, Deciduous, DMF Index
- in
- Child Abuse & Neglect
- volume
- 161
- article number
- 107240
- publisher
- Pergamon Press Ltd.
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:39914098
- scopus:85216886969
- ISSN
- 1873-7757
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107240
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
- id
- efc22cc4-7d92-41e8-a97d-dd3f333d4001
- date added to LUP
- 2025-12-01 08:44:49
- date last changed
- 2025-12-16 05:32:25
@article{efc22cc4-7d92-41e8-a97d-dd3f333d4001,
abstract = {{<p>BACKGROUND: Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) is a severe threat to children's health and well-being worldwide. Since oral and dental health are indicators of general health, dentists and dental hygienists are in a favorable position to identify potential cases of CAN.</p><p>OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the caries experience in primary and permanent dentition in children where physical abuse was suspected compared to controls.</p><p>PARTICIPANT AND SETTING: All cases were police-reported cases of suspected physical abuse, examined from 2020 to 2023 at the Child Advocacy Centre (CAC) in Copenhagen. Control groups were established using annual reports from the Danish Health Authority of children examined in pediatric dental clinics from 2020 to 2023.</p><p>METHODS: The children underwent a comprehensive and systematic forensic medical and dental examination. The control group was matched by age and geography. The main outcome was caries experience, defined as decayed, extracted, or filled primary teeth (def-t) and decayed, missing, or filled permanent teeth (DMF-T). Logistics regression analyses were used to predict the caries experience in cases compared to controls.</p><p>RESULTS: Overall, significantly higher caries experience was found in primary dentition among cases (Chi-square, p < 0.05). Stratified by age, higher caries experience was found in the primary dentition in the 5-year-old (OR: 2.5-3.0; 95% CI 1.1-7.2) and in the permanent dentition of the 11-year-old (OR: 2.9-3.9; 95% CI 1.4-13.9) across all study years.</p><p>CONCLUSIONS: Certain age groups of suspected physically abused children exhibit significantly higher caries experience than matched controls.</p>}},
author = {{Justesen, Daniella and Wingren, Carl Johan and Teilum, Asta and Jensen, Niels Dyrgaard and Slot, Liselott and Ylijoki-Sørensen, Seija and Banner, Jytte and Hermann, Nuno Vibe}},
issn = {{1873-7757}},
keywords = {{Humans; Dental Caries/epidemiology; Male; Female; Child Abuse/statistics & numerical data; Child, Preschool; Child; Denmark/epidemiology; Registries; Case-Control Studies; Infant; Tooth, Deciduous; DMF Index}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Pergamon Press Ltd.}},
series = {{Child Abuse & Neglect}},
title = {{Caries experience in suspected physical child abuse : A comparative analysis with register-based controls}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107240}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107240}},
volume = {{161}},
year = {{2025}},
}