Pinto Andres, Kim Suhn, Wadenya Rose, Rosenberg Howard
The Robert Schattner Center, University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2007 Nov;71(11):1435-40.
Obesity in the young is a public health priority. The prevalence of overweight children in the United States has risen almost threefold in the last two decades. An association between weight and oral health has been suggested in adults, whereas evidence supporting this association in children is controversial at best. The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between weight and dental caries in a random prospective cohort of children at their initial visit at an urban dental school. One hundred and thirty-five children were recruited in a four-month period. The DS/ds index was used to assess caries, and BMI percentile was calculated based on age and gender-adjusted published scales. Correlation analyses, linear, and multivariate regression including age, gender, and BMI were calculated with a significance threshold of p>0.05. No correlation between dental decay in obese and non-obese children was detected (p=0.99). These findings support recent U.S. population-based literature that reports an inverse association between caries and weight in certain pediatric groups. Nevertheless, the impact of interventions to address the epidemic in the dental setting has not been investigated. As part of a health care team, dental students should be exposed to the changing demographics and sequelae of overweight in children.
青少年肥胖是公共卫生的重点问题。在过去二十年中，美国超重儿童的患病率几乎增长了两倍。在成年人中，体重与口腔健康之间的关联已被提出，而支持儿童中这种关联的证据充其量也存在争议。我们研究的目的是在一所城市牙科学校对儿童首次就诊时进行的随机前瞻性队列研究中，评估体重与龋齿之间的关联。在四个月的时间里招募了135名儿童。使用DS/ds指数评估龋齿情况，并根据年龄和性别调整后的公开量表计算BMI百分位数。进行了相关性分析、线性回归和多变量回归分析，包括年龄、性别和BMI，显著性阈值为p>0.05。未发现肥胖儿童和非肥胖儿童的龋齿之间存在相关性（p=0.99）。这些发现支持了美国最近基于人群的文献，该文献报告了在某些儿童群体中龋齿与体重之间存在负相关。然而，在牙科环境中针对这一流行问题的干预措施的影响尚未得到研究。作为医疗团队的一员，牙科学生应该了解儿童超重的人口统计学变化及其后果。
