Dental caries and body mass index in a sample of 12-year-old eastern Turkish children

作者：Cantekin Kenan^*; Gurbuz Taskin; Demirbuga Sezer; Demirci Tevfik; Duruk Gulsum

来源：Journal of Dental Sciences, 2012, 7(1): 77-80.

DOI：10.1016/j.jds.2012.01.011

• children
• dental caries
• epidemic
• obesity

Background/purpose: The objective of the present study was to investigate the possible correlation between the body mass index (BMI) and dental caries among 12-year-old Turkish children.
Materials and methods: The clinical study was performed on 224 12-year-old children at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey, to determine their dental caries and malnutrition status. To assess the nutritional status, the weight for age, height for age, and BMI were determined. The BMI status was categorized into four groups: 1 (underweight), 2 (normal weight), 3 (overweight), and 4 (obese). The occurrence of dental caries was determined using the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index.
Results: Respective mean DMFT values for BMI-1, BMI-2, BMI-3, and BMI-4 were 1.44, 1.47, 1.81, and 2.33, respectively. There were significant differences between BMI-1 and BMI-4 (P = 0.019, r(2) = 0.73) and between BMI-2 and BMI-4 (P = 0.022, r(2) = 0.72) values.
Conclusion: Paedodontics should consider the relationship between patients' body composition and oral health, in order to provide the best service for pediatric patients, and should advice parents on oral-health promotion.

• 出版日期2012-3