Relationship of Body Mass Index with Dental Caries among Children attending Pediatric Dental Department in an Institute

INTRODUCTION: Oral health, the mirror of general well being, is altered by many mediators like infection, chronic inflammation, and genetic predisposition. Apart from these mediators, nutrition has been postulated as an alternative mediator. The present dietary pattern among children is contributing to childhood overweight as well as increasing the risk for developing dental caries. The food habits contributing to dental caries as well as obesity are similar. Undernutrition has also shown to be associated with the dental caries. The study was conducted to investigate the relationship of body mass index to dental caries. METHODS: A cross sectional clinical study was conducted on 7 to 12 year old children, studying in public schools, visiting the Department of Pediatric Dentistry for a routine dental check up. The study evaluated the nutritional status by calculating the body mass index using the formula BMI= Weight (kg)/Height(2) (m(2)). Then their Body Mass Index was correlated with the Dental caries status using WHO criteria for decayed, missing and filled teeth index. Data analysis was done by SPSS 20 software program. RESULTS: Total of 251 children between 7 to 12 years were evaluated. The mean age of the participants was 9.12 years. No statistically significant result was found on comparing the nutritional status to dental caries (P=0.43). A statistically significant difference though was found on comparing dental caries status among gender (P=0.021) as well different age groups (P=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed the presence of more normal and underweight children but there was no statistically significant association between body mass index and decayed, missing and filled teeth index.