Role of dietary habits and diet in caries occurrence and severity among urban adolescent school children

Abstract

To identify the role of dietary habits (type of diet, skipping meals, snacking in-between meals and frequency of visits to fast food restaurants) in caries occurrence and severity. To explore the correlation between frequency of intake of selected foods and dental caries. A cross-sectional study was carried out on adolescent children (n = 916) of age 13-19, following a two-stage random sampling technique. Data were collected using a pretested questionnaire. Questionnaire included demographic details, dietary habits of children and food frequency table that listed selected food items. The dependent variable-dental caries was measured using the decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) index. The prevalence of dental caries in this study population was 36.7% (95% confidence interval: 33.58-39.82). The mean DMFT was 1.01 (±1.74). No statistically significant difference found between caries occurrence and type of diet (P = 0.07), skipping meals (P = 0.86), frequency of eating in fast food stalls (0.86) and snacking in between meals (0.08). Mean DMFT values were higher among nonvegetarians and among children who had the habit of snacking in between meals. Frequency of intake of selected food items showed that mean frequency intake of carbonated drinks and confectionery was higher among children who presented with caries when compared to caries-free children (P = 0.000). Significant correlation found between mean DMFT and mean frequency intake of carbonated drinks and confectionery. Odds ratios were calculated for the same for frequency ≥4 times/day for confectionery and ≥4/week for carbonated drinks and results discussed. Frequent intake of carbonated drinks and confectionery is harmful to oral health that eventually reflects on general health. Educating the adolescent children on healthy dietary habits should be put in the forefront.

Relationship between Risk Behavior for Eating Disorders and Dental Caries and Dental Erosion

“…Logistic regression analysis revealed that overweight or obese adolescents are more likely to have serious risk behavior for eating disorders, corroborating previous findings [ 30 , 31 ]. Thus, it was observed that higher BMI leads to greater dissatisfaction with appearance and increased prevalence of eating disorders [ 31 ].…”

Associations between Diet, Dietary and Oral Hygiene Habits with Caries Occurrence and Severity in Children with Autism at Dammam City, Saudi Arabia

“…The self-administered questionnaire combined from previously reported researchers [ 12 ] [ 13 ] gathering information about the close-ended questions into four parts as demographic characteristics (age, gender, educational level and income of the parents) followed by 18 questions related to diet (6 question), dietary habits (6 question) and hygiene habits (6 questions).…”

“…But several procedural imperfections built in these studies make it hard to confirm a convinced association between dietary habits and dental caries (Screenby, 1975; Newbrun, 1982) [ 11 ]. But its role cannot be taken trivially from the recent studies [ 12 ] [ 13 ] where it is proved that dietary habits take a very important role.…”

Magnitude of dental caries and its associated factors among governmental primary school children in Debre Berhan town, Ethiopia

“…According to the report of different study sex, age, dietary habits,education, and oral hygiene status are associated with increased prevalence of dental caries (25,27,31). Likewise, the growing consumption of sugared foods in the developing world, poor tooth brushing habits, poor oral hygiene and low level of awareness about dental caries are some of the factors that increased the levels of dental decay (23,(32)(33)(34). On the contrary frequent tooth brushing was a lower chance of having decayed (5).…”