CANONICAL CORRESPONDENCE ANALYSIS AND PATH ANALYSIS MODEL (CCA) APPLIED TO DENTAL CARIES AMONG CHILDREN SIX AND SEVEN YEAR OLDS, BACHOK, KELANTAN, MALAYSIA.

A correspondence analysis and path analysis approach were conducted for a dental caries case study among 6-7 year-old children from (Bachok District) Kelantan. Data from382 children were collected and caries status was examined visually by two dental officers from School of Dental Sciences, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). All related and important information observed was recorded in a research form. Results showed that 63.1% of the children was in high caries category. The incidence of caries among these children was very high and required attention from the government. The factors associated with caries status were analyzed using graphical mapping approach and path model analysis. This statistical technique facilitated the visualization through mapping procedure and path modeling analysis of the studied variables. All data were processed and analyzed using SAS (for Canonical Correspondence Analysis) and SPSS (Logistic Regression) software.