Few children receive dental care before the recommended age of 1, according to a new Canadian study.
Fewer than one per cent of healthy urban children surveyed in Toronto had received dental care by the recommended age of 12 months and fewer than two per cent had seen a dentist by the age of 24 months, the study found.
Children most susceptible to cavities were least likely to receive early dental care, said Dr Jonathon Maguire, a pediatrician and researcher at St Michael's Hospital in Canada.
Of the 2,505 children around 4 years of age who were surveyed from 2011-13, 39 per cent had never been to a dentist.
The children were part of TARGet Kids (The Applied Research Group for Kids), a collaboration between doctors and researchers from St Michael's Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children.
The programme follows children from birth with the aim of preventing common problems in the early years and understanding their impact on health and disease later in life.
The study found never having been to a dentist was associated with younger age, lower family income, prolonged bottle use and higher daily intake of sweetened drinks such as juice.
With each one-cup increase in the amount of sweetened drinks consumed daily, the odds of never having visited a dentist increased by 20 per cent.
Of children who had visited a dentist, 24 per cent had at least one cavity.
Maguire said prolonged bottle use, especially at night, and sweetened drinks are suspected risk factors for cavities because the carbohydrates in the beverages promote the growth of the bacteria that causes cavities.
Among children who had been to a dentist, older age, lower family income and East Asian maternal ancestry were also associated with having one or more cavities.
Cavities can cause not just pain in children but also contribute to feeding problems, poor nutritional status and behavioural problems, Maguire said.
He said previous studies have found that children who receive preventive dental care in the first year of life have less dental disease, are less likely to require restorative or emergency treatment and have lower dental-related health care costs - particularly among high-risk populations.
The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
