Long-term incompatibility of nutritional status and early childhood caries-A call to revamp perinatal and early childhood dietary care and follow-up

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Dietary pattern and diet quality can influence the incidence of dental caries and can be indicated by decay missing filled (Dmf) scores in the primary dentition. This study aims to find the relationship of nutritional status and oral hygiene practices on Dmf scores of preschool children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Semi-structured and self-administered questionnaires, distributed among 60 preschoolers' parents, were used to assess the demographic and diet related data. Anthropometric measurements of the preschoolers were taken following universally accepted protocols. The relationship between dietary supplement consumption and the presence of dental caries was evaluated by chi-square test employing SPSS 22. RESULTS: The anthropometric measurements among 4-year-old children were on par with the standard values and that of 5-year-olds were below the reference range. All the measurements except head to chest circumference were higher than normal range among 3-year-old subjects. Regular and periodic dental check-ups significantly influenced dental caries prevention (p = 0.030). Statistically, there was no significant association between Dmf scores and thumb-sucking habits (p = 0.568), brushing teeth and usage of tooth floss (p = 0.96), consumption of nutrient supplements (p = 0.744), and BMI (p = 0.564) of the subjects. Furthermore, the correlation between z scores and Dmf scores was found insignificant. CONCLUSION: Long-term as well as short-term malnutrition initiated 2 years after the start of the pre-schooling. With severity of undernutrition there was a trend to have high Dmf scores.