J Orofac Sci, 2(2)2010

Journal of

OROFACIAL SCIENCES
Original Research

Dental Caries and Body Mass Index in Children of Nellore.

Niraj Gokhalea*, Sivakumar. Na, Nirmala. SVSGa, Abinash. Ma
a

Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Narayana Dental College, Chintareddypalem, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India.

ARTICLE INFO
Article History : Received : 20 July 2010 Received in revised form : 27 July 2010 Accepted : 7 August 2010 Key Words : Body Mass Index, Dental Caries.

ABSTRACT
AIM : The purpose of this study was to find whether any correlation exists between dental caries and body mass index. MATERIALS AND METHOD : Height and weight of 100 patients were taken and body mass index was calculated and oral examination was carried out to find any correlation with dental caries. RESULTS : The results showed that no statistically significant values were obtained for BMI and dental caries (Chi square=8.030), similarly for BMI and socioeconomic status (Chi square=6.704) and also for socioeconomic status and dental caries (Chi square=1.103). CONCLUSION: More factors other than the BMI, Socioeconomic status are involved in the prevalence of caries.
2010 SIDS.All Rights Reserved

INTRODUCTION :
Dental caries is an increasing public health problem worldwide. Incidence of dental caries is on the rise inspite of best efforts by dental health professionals to reduce its incidence. Because of the increasing trend of sedentary lifestyle and indulgence in consumption of JUNK food overweight and obesity are on rise. Overweight and obese people are at increased risk of developing medical and psychological problems. High sugar intake is reported to be more common among overweight and obese children than those with normal weights. Frequent sugar intake is also recognized risk factor for dental caries. Thus the eating pattern among overweight or obese children may be a risk factor in common for caries and overweight 1. The documentation of such relationship is sparse and seemingly inconsistent. An accepted method to evaluate an individuals body weight is through calculation of body mass index (BMI). Due to changed eating habits, an increase in high weight and obesity especially in developed and developing countries has been observed over the past two decades1, 2. Childhood obesity may lead to serious diseases, a decrease in life expectancy and numerous other problems. Childhood obesity and Caries may share some common factors: Biological/genetic factors, social/cultural factors, dietary/feeding factors, and environmental/lifestyle factors. Other factors are : Poverty, race, and intake of drugs which may reduce salivary flow3.

MATERIALS AND METHOD : Present study was carried out in Dept of Pedodontics, Narayana Dental College and Hospital after explaining the study to parents and obtaining informed consent from the parent. 100 children aged 3-14 years were taken into the study. The demographic data was recorded on a
4

* Corresponding author :
Dr. Niraj Gokhale
Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry Narayana Dental College, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh-524002, India. neeraj_gokhale05@rediffmail.com

J Orofac Sci, 2(2)2010

recording form. The parents were asked about their profession and based on it the socioeconomic status was determined. Dental examination was carried out by a single examiner and data entered by a single assistant. The DMFT and def indices were recorded after drying the teeth with air and using a mirror and No 23 explorer. After the dental examination the height and weight (BAI weighing scale) of the children were determined using standardized scales. The Body Mass Index was calculated using the formula BMI= Kg/m2 using height and weight measures4. Using age and gender specific criteria, subjects were categorized as
G

TABLE1.

COMPARING BMI WITH DECAY

BMICODE * DECAY_CODE 0 TO 2 DECAY_CODE

3 TO 5 8 11 5 24

6 TO 7 0 3 1 4

Total

BMI CODE Chisquare = 8.030NS

LESS THAN 14 14 - 17 GREATER THAN 14 Total

15 52 5 27

23 66 11 100

Ideal weight: BMI 14-17. Under weight: BMI less than 14. Over weight: BMI more than 17.

TABLE2:

COMPARING BMI WITH SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

BMICODE * SOCIO ECONOMIC status

Socioeconomic division was done based on the profession as given by Tata consultancy service5 into
G

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
UPC

LC 4 16 3 23

LMC 15 25 3 43

Total

Lower class Lower middle class Upper middle class Middle class. High class.
LESS THAN 14 BMICODE Chisquare= 6.704NS 14 - 17 GREATER THAN 14 Total
4 25 5 34

23 66 11 100

RESULTS : Data collected was statistically analyzed using SPSS 16.0 software. Parameters like BMI, Decay were categorized and the results were found insignificant for all the pairs of combinations i.e, BMI and Decay (p>0.05) (Table- 1) BMI and Socio Economic Status (p>0.05) (Table -2) Socio economic status and Decay (p>0.05) at 0.05 level (Table-3) This means that other factors like living habits, fluoride content of water, and type of food being consumed etc, also have a role in carious process.

TABLE 3:

COMPARING SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS WITH DECAY

SOCIO ECONOMIC status* DECAY_CODE

DECAY_CODE
0 TO 2

3 TO 5 8 4 12 24

6 TO 7 1 1 2 4

Total

UPC SOCIO Chisquare= 1.103NS LC LMC Total

25 18 29 72

34 23 43 100

The results from our study portrayed that there is no evident correlation between BMI and dental caries.
5

J Orofac Sci, 2(2)2010

DISCUSSION : In a study which compared the relation between body mass index and S-ECC found that BMI percentile was not correlated with dmft or the number of pulp-involved teeth, even after adjusting for confounding factors6. A study found that adolescents with overweight and obesity had significantly higher approximal caries prevalence than those of normal weight7. In a study by Brita Willerhausen et al showed that a significant association exists between high weight and caries frequency in the first dentition (p=0.0067) and in the permanent dentition (p=0.0002)2. Gerdin EW et al from their study in 2303 Swedish children found that association of overweight and dental caries is weak8. CONCLUSION : Hence from this study it can be seen that Body Mass Index cannot be used to correlate dental caries and the weight of the child as the degree of significance is very less. Other factors do have a role to play in the caries process. More longitudinal studies with higher sample size are needed to confirm this association.
REFERENCES :
1. Hong L, Ahmed A, McCunniff M, Overman P, Mathew M. Obesity and Dental Caries in Children aged 2- 6 Years in the 2.

United States- National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002. J Public Health Dent. 2008 Fall;68(4):227-33 Brita Willerhausen, Maria Blettner, Adrian Kasaj, and Katharina Hohenfellner. Association between Body mass Index and dental health in 1,290 children of elementary school in German city. Clin Oral Invest 2007; 11:195200. Patil SN, and Wasnik V. Nutritional and Health Status of Rural School Children in Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 2009 June (3):1611-1614. B.M. Frier, A.S.Truswell, J. Shepherd, A.De Looy, and R.Jung. Diabetes mellitus, and nutritional and metabolic disorders. In Christopher Haslett, Edwin Chilvers, John A A Hunter, and Nicolas Boon editors. Davidsons principles and practice of medicine. 18th edition Churchill Livingstone press; 1999. Pg no 526. Park & Park: Social Sciences and Medicine. Text book of Preventive and Social medicine 18th edn. Banarsidas Bhanot Publishers 1167, Premnagar, Press chowk, Jabalpur; 2005, Pg no 517. Barbara Sheller, Shervin Churchill, Bryan Williams, and Bo Davidson. Body mass Index of children with severe early childhood caries. Pediatric dentistry 2009; 31(3): 216-220. Anita Alm. Dental caries and caries related factors in children and teenagers. Swed Dent J 2004; 28: 61-66. Elisabeth Wrnberg Gerdin, Marianne Angbratt, Kerstin Aronsson, Elin Eriksson, and Ingegerd Johansson. Dental caries and Body Mass Index by Socioeconomic status in Swedish Children. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2008; 36(5): 459-465.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. 8.