Association between childhood obesity and dental caries.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to investigate dental caries and body mass index (BMI percentile) in pediatric dental patients.

METHODS

A 3-year retrospective review of patient records included all 6- to 9-year-olds seen for a new patient examination who had at least 1 recall examination. Decayed permanent teeth (DT) and primary teeth (dt), plaque score, gingival score, height, and weight were recorded at the initial examination and each recall visit. BMI percentile was categorized into underweight/healthy weight (UH), overweight (OW), and obese (OB).

RESULTS

A total of 230 subjects were seen for the initial examination: approximately 13% were OB, 15% were OW, and 72% were UH, while approximately 12% had permanent caries and 46% had primary caries. The presence of caries in permanent teeth at the initial exam was not significantly different between BMI groups (P=.41). OW and OB children had less primary tooth caries than UH children. (P=.04) The presence of new carious lesions at recall exams in primary teeth (P=.35) and permanent teeth (P=.96) was not significantly different between BMI groups.

CONCLUSIONS

A smaller proportion of obese and overweight children initially presented with primary tooth caries than underweight/healthy weight children.