Obesity is inversely related to the risks of dental caries in Korean adults

Carotid Artery Calcification Detected on Panoramic Radiography Is Significantly Related to Cerebrovascular Accident, Coronary Artery Disease, and Poor Oral Health: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Panoramic radiography imaging modality is widely used by dentists for diagnosing dental and jaw conditions. It can also detect carotid artery calcification (CAC), indicative of calcified atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid arteries. This cross-sectional retrospective study at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center investigated the link between CAC identified on panoramic radiograph (PR) and cerebrovascular accident (CVA), coronary artery disease (CAD), and poor oral health. Data from 314 CAC patients collected from 2014 to 2023 included age at diagnosis, gender, and clinical histories of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, CVA, CAD, and the decay, missing, and filled permanent teeth (DMFT) index. These patients were age- and gender-matched with non-CAC patients for analysis. The findings revealed high prevalences of hypertension (86.2%), hyperlipidemia (57.6%), diabetes mellitus (30.7%), CVA (15.5%), and CAD (28.7%) amongst CAC patients and the average DMFT index was 26.6. A comparative analysis of 276 matched controls demonstrated significant differences in hypertension (85.9% vs. 57.6%), hyperlipidemia (58.3% vs. 33.7%), diabetes (32.6% vs. 22.1%), CVA history (14.9% vs. 5.1%), CAD (26.1% vs. 9.8%), and DMFT scores (26.3 vs. 23.7), all indicating strong associations between CAC and these health conditions. The adjusted analysis showed that hypertension (aOR: 3.20 [95% CI: 2.06-5.07]), hyperlipidemia (aOR: 1.70 [95% CI: 1.14-2.50]), CVA (aOR: 2.20 [95% CI: 1.13-4.30]), and CAD (aOR: 2.10 [95% CI: 1.28-3.60]) were significantly associated with CAC. Notably, only 41.7% of the patients received a medical consultation after CAC detection on PR. It is crucial for dentists to refer patients for further evaluation.

Assessment of Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and DMFT Scores among Patients at King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa

Background and Objectives: Oral health is one of the most significant issues in public health. The Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) Index is a useful tool for assessing and measuring the state of oral health in a community. This study aimed to evaluate oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices among participants who visited a dental clinic at King Faisal University and to evaluate their DMFT scores. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted at the King Faisal University dental complex, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, using a simple random sampling technique. The data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire in English and Arabic. All statistical analyses were carried out using the SPSS 20 software. A chi square and ANOVA test were used to assess the association. A p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were a total of 260 participants, of whom 193 (74.2%) were male and 67 (25.8%) were female. Most participants, 173 (66.5%), were between the ages of 18 and 28. The majority of the participants 191 (73.5%) believed that bad oral hygiene led to gum disease. Additionally, major issues while visiting dental clinics, the importance of routine dental clinic visits, the existence of a connection between oral and general health, brushing time and frequency of change of used brush were significantly influenced by gender (p < 0.05). In terms of the DMFT index, mean numbers of decaying teeth (D) were 4.82 ± 4.15, mean numbers of missing teeth (M) were 1.56 ± 2.94, mean numbers of filled teeth (F) were 5.17 ± 5.28 and mean DMFT score was 11.56 ± 6.32, with a statistically significant difference observed (p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study concluded that, although some of the study participants neglected oral hygiene practices, the majority of participants had good knowledge and attitudes regarding the significance of oral hygiene. Owing to inadequate practices, the decayed, missing, and filled teeth scores increased with increasing age. Additionally, gender had no significant impact on the mean scores for decayed, missing, and filled teeth, although there were significant differences between age groups.

Association of Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference With Dental Caries and Consequences of Untreated Dental Caries Among 12- to 14-Year-old Boys: A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) and dental caries (DC), and the clinical consequences of untreated dental caries (U-DC) among 12- to 14-year-old male public-school adolescents in the Northern Province, Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

The demographic and anthropometric measurements of 302 boys 12 to 14 years of age (mean: 12.5 years) were recorded. BMI and central obesity (based on WC) were measured. The decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT) index was used to record DC. The pulp involvement, ulceration, fistula, abscess (PUFA) index was used to quantify the clinical consequences of U-DC. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the risk factors related to DC and clinical consequences of U-DC.

RESULTS

A high prevalence of DC was found in adolescents who were underweight according to BMI and nonobese based on WC (46.7% vs 34.5%). The association between underweight (BMI) and obese (WC) with DC (odds ratio [95% CI]) was 1.91 (0.87, 4.18) and 0.34 (0.18, 0.63), respectively, while with PUFA (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]; 95%CI), it was 1.76 (0.76, 4.09) and 0.19 (0.06, 0.63) respectively. The logistic regression model showed that consuming sugar more than once a day led to a 2.87-fold greater likelihood of DC (AOR [95% CI] = 2.87 [1.68, 4.88]) and a 3.91-fold greater likelihood of mean PUFA score (AOR [95% CI] = 3.91 [2.05, 7.44].

CONCLUSION

High risks for DC and clinical consequences of U-DC were observed among underweight and nonobese adolescent males. The frequency of sugar consumption was significantly associated with both conditions.

The association between nutritional status and dental caries in low-income children: A multilevel analysis

BACKGROUND

The possible association between obesity, underweight, and dental caries remains in debate. In addition, the role of sugar consumption on the abovementioned relationship was little explored.

AIM

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between nutritional status and dental caries in 12-year-old low-income children.

DESIGN

This cross-sectional school-based study involved 406 12-year-old children living with limited economic resources. Dental caries was assessed using the decayed component of DMFT and PUFA/pufa index. Children were weighed and measured to assess nutritional status according to z-score/body mass index. Data on socio-economic and demographic characteristics, sugar consumption, sedentary behaviour, and psychosocial factors were collected through validated questionnaires. Multivariable multilevel Poisson regression was performed.

RESULTS

Underweight children had 60% (RR = 1.60; 95% CI 1.13-2.57) higher mean of decayed teeth and had mean PUFA/pufa 2.8 times higher than children with normal nutritional status. Underweight children with high annual sugar intake had a greater mean of decayed teeth (RR = 2.72; 95% CI 1.46-5.06) than underweight children with low sugar intake.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that malnutrition is associated with dental caries among children from low-income families.

Association between overweight, obesity and incidence of advanced dental caries in South Korean adults: A 10-year nationwide population-based observational study

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between overweight, obesity and the incidence of advanced dental caries in South Korean adults, using alternate measures. The participants included 376,077 people aged 20 years and older who had health examination at least one time between 2005 and 2008. This evaluation is based on a change of body mass index (BMI) category, for 10 years, using a nationally representative data resource available from the National Health Insurance System. Instead of using decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), the diagnostic codes which indicate dental caries, pulpal disease and visiting frequency at dental health professionals were used in this case. A multivariate adjusted Cox regression analysis was performed to examine the association between advanced dental caries and BMI. In addition to the BMI, a multivariate analysis of gender, age, lifestyle behaviors and systemic disease information was included. To this end, the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Chiefly, it is noted that the overweight and obese people were more likely to develop advanced dental caries independent of the noted variables. The positive association between high BMI and incidence of advanced dental caries was more prominent in the population's characteristic of people who were in a classification of the elderly and women. Among the health and lifecycle behaviors, smoking or not was found to be one of the factors affecting the results. The alternate method used in this study showed that being overweight and obesity had a direct association with the incidence of advanced dental caries in Korean adults.

Are dental caries and overweight/obesity interrelated? A cross-sectional study in rural and urban preschool children

BACKGROUND

Obesity and dental caries are two distinct diseases which are somewhat preventable through a common risk factor approach, as they have common underlying etiological factor, i.e., high sugar intake.

AIM

The aim of the study is to examine the correlation between dental caries and body mass index (BMI) in rural and urban areas of Hisar (Haryana, India) and intercompare their correlations.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study in rural and urban preschool children of Hisar, Haryana.

METHODS

A total of 500 urban and 500 rural children (age group 3-6 years) were selected from schools of Hisar and the values of their mean BMI and mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) (using the World Health Organization criteria, 2005) were compared using independent sample t-test among different groups and subgroups. Pearson correlation coefficients between dmft and BMI were calculated for groups and subgroups and intercompared.

RESULTS

Males had significantly higher BMI than females (P < 0.05) and urban preschool children had significantly higher BMI than rural preschool children (P < 0.05). Mean deft was statistically non-significant across the genders and both geographical areas. Non-significant negative correlation was observed between dmft and BMI across different areas and genders. The overall prevalence of obesity/overweight was 20.2% (25.6% urban preschool children; 14.8% rural preschool children). More rural preschool children were underweight (23.8%) than urban preschool children (14.4%) with the overall prevalence of underweight being 19.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

There was no significant correlation between dental caries and BMI in preschool children of rural and urban areas. Obesity/overweight was more prevalent in urban preschool children, whereas rural preschool children predominantly were underweight.

The potential impact of age, gender, body mass index, socioeconomic status and dietary habits on the prevalence of dental caries among Egyptian adults: a cross-sectional study

Background: Dental caries is a major public health problem and the most widespread chronic disease to affect individuals throughout their lifetime. Little information exists about the prevalence of dental caries among Egyptian adults. Therefore, this study investigated the dental caries experience among Egyptian adults in correlation with different risk factors.

Methods: A total of 359 Egyptian adults (age range, 18-74 years) were examined over a period of 3 months, starting on the 15 ^th of November 2017 until the 13 ^th of January 2018. Socio-demographic data, brushing frequency, body mass index (BMI) and eating habits were recorded and collected using a questionnaire. Dental examination was performed using the Decayed, Missing and Filled tooth (DMFT) index.

Results: In total, 86.63% of participants had dental caries experience. Of the participants, 60.45%, 48.47% and 55.43% had at least one decayed, missing and filled tooth, respectively. The mean number of decayed, missing, filled or DMFT for the whole sample were 2.4±3.6, 1.98±3.99, 1.79±2.45, 6.09±5.7, respectively. Decayed teeth were inversely correlated with socio-economic status (SES), education level, brushing frequency and milk consumption and positively correlated with grains, junk food and soda drinks consumption. Missing teeth were inversely correlated with SES, education level and brushing frequency, while positively correlated with age, BMI and caffeinated drink consumption. Conversely, filled teeth were positively correlated with age, BMI, SES and education level, while negatively correlated with grains and sugars in drinks.

Conclusion: The present study clarifies that age, BMI, SES, education level and brushing frequency are risk factors significantly associated with dental caries prevalence amongst Egyptian adults. Egyptian adults' dietary habits might lead to obesity, which indirectly causes dental caries rather than directly as in children.

Relationship between body mass index and outcomes for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of our study was to investigate body mass index (BMI) as a prognostic factor and to examine the relationship between pretreatment BMI and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) outcomes in northern Chinese patients.

METHODS

This retrospective study enrolled 633 patients with OSCC who underwent surgery between 2004 and 2014.

RESULTS

Most baseline characteristics (gender, sites, smoking history, comorbidity, hypertension, T stage, clinical features, perineural invasion, flap reconstruction) were differentiated by BMI groups. Overall, the Kaplan-Meier curves indicated no significant relationship between BMI and disease-free survival (DFS) or disease-specific survival (DSS). Interestingly, obese patients exhibited higher risks of recurrence and death than normal-weight patients (DFS: HR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.16-2.96; DSS: HR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.08-3.86). However, postoperative complications occurred more frequently in underweight patients than in normal-weight patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Obesity may contribute to a higher recurrence rate and a worse prognosis in OSCC patients than in normal-weight patients in northern China. However, underweight patients have a higher risk of postoperative complications.

Association of the Risk of Dental Caries and Polymorphism of MBL2 rs11003125 Gene in Iranian Adults

This case-control study aimed to investigate the effect of rs11003125 in dental caries. For this purpose, a total number of 404 individuals - from Fars Province in Iran - were studied. The technique of this research was the tetra-primer amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS)-PCR. Dental caries prevalence among the 404 individuals was assessed by counting the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth. In this research, individuals were divided into two groups: cases (n = 238) and controls (n = 166), and the peripheral blood samples were used to extract the genomic DNA. For genotyping of DNA, the tetra-primer ARMS-PCR method was conducted using specific primer pairs. While examining MBL2 rs11003125 polymorphism, we found significant differences in the genotype frequencies between the case and the control group. The pooled estimates indicated that the GG and GC genotypes of MBL2 rs11003125 polymorphism significantly increased, and therefore caries risk (OR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.31-4.40, p = 0.004) under the dominant model. These findings suggested that polymorphism in MBL2 gene was associated with dental caries in Iranian adults. Further verification is needed with more ethnic groups and larger sample sizes to determine whether rs11003125 polymorphism is related to dental caries in other regions or not.