The relationship between obesity and dental caries according to life style factors in schoolchildren: a case-control study

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the association between obesity and dental caries in terms of life-style habits and socio-economic status in Turkish school children.Materials and methods: This case-control study was undertaken with 178 children aged 6-11 years in a Turkish government children's hospital. The case group consisted of 86 obese children who were categorized in ≥95 percentile according to the BMI. The control group consisted of 90 non-obese children that would not raise any doubts about the teeth disease. Data of demographic features and life-style habits were obtained by a questionnaire at the dental examination. Caries experience was measured with DMFT and dmft indices.Results: No difference was found between obesity and caries prevalence in primary dentition (p = .957); however, there was a statistically significant association in the permanent dentition (p = .002). Also, no differences were found in children with healthy natural teeth between the study groups according to education level, family income and food consumption during TV viewing in primary dentition (p = .297; p = .652; p = .023).Conclusions: It can be concluded that obesity appears to be not a possible risk factor for dental caries in primary dentition, but would be a probable endangerment in the permanent dentition.

Keywords: Obesity; dental caries; life style factors; schoolchildren.