Association between iron status, iron deficiency anaemia, and severe early childhood caries: a case–control study

Children were recruited as part of a larger case–control study examining differences in nutritional status between those with and without S-ECC. Preschoolers with S-ECC were recruited on the day of their dental surgery, while caries-free controls were recruited from the community. Parents completed a questionnaire and the child underwent venipuncture. The study was approved by the University’s Health Research Ethics Board. Statistics included descriptive, bivariate and logistic regression analyses. A p value ≤ .05 was significant. A total of 266 children were recruited; 144 with S-ECC and 122 caries-free.The mean age was 40.8 ± 14.1 months. The mean ferritin concentration for all children was 29.6 ± 17.9 μg/L while the mean haemoglobin level was 115.1 ± 10.1 g/L. Children with S-ECC were significantly more likely to have low ferritin (p=.033) and low haemoglobin levels (p>.001). Logistic regression analyses revealed that children with S-ECC were nearly twice as likely to have low ferritin levels and were over six times more likely to have iron deficiency anaemia than caries-free controls.Children with S-ECC appear to be at significantly greater odds of having low ferritin status compared with caries-free children and also appear to have significantly lower haemoglobin levels than the caries-free control group. Children with S-ECC also appear to be at significantly greater odds for iron deficiency anaemia than cavity-free children.Despite the epidemic nature of both dental caries and iron deficiency worldwide, there has been little research as to whether an association exists between the two conditions. Severe Early Childhood Caries (S-ECC) is defined as the presence of any smooth surface caries for children under the age of 3 and the presence of one or more smooth surface lesions in any primary maxillary anterior teeth for those 3 to 5 years of age (or a dmft score of ≥ 4 (age 3), ≥ 5 (age 4), or ≥ 6 (age 5)) [1]. The implications of S-ECC can extend beyond the oral