Association between dental caries and obesity evaluated by air displacement plethysmography in 18-year-old adolescents in Pelotas, Brazil

[Relation between body mass index and dental caries among adolescents]

BACKGROUND

Obesity and dental caries are both multifactorial diseases. Their prevalence is increasing among infants and adolescents. Research results on the association between dental caries and obesity are contradictory and the nature of factors involved remains unclear. The aims were to review and summarize the type of the relation between dental caries and obesity among infants and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years old and to identify factors contributing to the clarification of the relationship.

METHOD

Research of literature was undertaken on electronically databases Scholar Google, Medline, completed by manual searches from reference lists of studies. Review was based on cross sectional studies published between 2010 and 2015.

RESULTS

The results showed that dental caries were associated with high and low body mass index. In addition to the socio-economic, environmental, behavioural, lifestyle factors, the review identified that the choice of instruments used to diagnose the dental caries and the obesity had impact on the results.

CONCLUSION

The present review has identified the impact of the indicators used for measuring obesity and dental caries other than the standard BMI or DMFT respectively. Future research should test if their use will change the conclusions on the association between obesity and dental caries.

Body mass index and dental caries in young people: a systematic review

Background

Obesity and caries in young people are issues of public health concern. Even though research into the relationship between the two conditions has been conducted for many years, to date the results remain equivocal. The aim of this paper was to determine the nature of the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and caries in children and adolescents, by conducting a systematic review of the published literature.

Methods

A systematic search of studies examining the association between BMI and caries in individuals younger than 18 years old was conducted. The electronic bibliographic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL and Google Scholar were searched. References of included studies were checked to identify further potential studies. Internal and external validity as well as reporting quality were assessed using the validated Methodological Evaluation of Observational Research checklist. Results were stratified based on the risk of flaws in 14 domains 10 of which were considered major and four minor.

Results

Of the 4208 initially identified studies, 84 papers met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review; conclusions were mainly drawn from 7 studies at lower risk of flaws. Three main types of association between BMI and caries were found: 26 studies showed a positive relationship, 19 showed a negative association, and 43 found no association between the variables of interest. Some studies showed more than one pattern of association. Assessment of confounders was the domain most commonly found to be flawed, followed by sampling and research specific bias. Among the seven studies which were found to be at lower risk of being flawed, five found no association between BMI and caries and two showed a positive association between these two variables.

Conclusions

Evidence of an association between BMI and caries was inconsistent. Based on the studies with a low risk lower risk of being flawed, a positive association between the variables of interest was found mainly in older children. In younger children, the evidence was equivocal. Longitudinal studies examining the association between different indicators of obesity and caries over the life course will help shed light in their complex relationship.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12887-019-1511-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Cross-sectional Study of the Prevalence of Dental Caries among 12- to 15-year-old Overweight Schoolchildren

INTRODUCTION

Overweight and obesity are growing health-related problems worldwide, and it is currently the most prevalent nutritional disorder among children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to assess the association between overweight and dental caries among 12- to 15-year-old schoolchildren in Mangaluru district, Karnataka, India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were obtained from 2000 school-going children aged 12 to 15 years. The children were categorized as overweight and normal-weight group by assessing the body mass index (BMI). Body mass index was categorized using the classification system given by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and obtained in units of kg/m². The dental caries was assessed by detection and was performed according to decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index.

RESULTS

Of the 2000 children examined, the mean BMI recorded was 26.87 ± 2.26 for the overweight children and 20.82 ± 1.48 for the normal-weight children. Even though the DMFT (3.90 ± 2.95) in the overweight children was slightly higher than the control group (3.36 ± 2.73), it was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Within the confines of the present study, it can be concluded that there is no significant association between overweight and dental caries among the schoolchildren of Mangaluru district in Karnataka. Longitudinal studies are necessary to substantiate the possible relationships between dental caries and overweight in children. Knowledge of these relationships could lead to preventive health measures designed to reduce the prevalence of both obesity and dental caries.