Association Between Dental Caries and Body Mass Index Among Hamedan Elementary School Children in 2009

OBJECTIVE Excessive weight in children is a major public health concern. The intake of refined carbohydrates, especially sugars and the prevalence of dental caries are well documented in the literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dental caries and BMI in elementary school children. MATERIALS AND METHODS The sampling technique used in the present study was a cluster random sampling. A total of 1000 pupils (500 girls, 500 boys) aged 6-11 years from 20 private and state elementary schools (10 boys, 10 girls). The weight status was measured in children by assessment of body mass index (BMI) (=body weight/body height(2) kg/m(2)) corresponding to gender and age-ranked percentages. To assess the caries frequency the decayed filled teeth (DFT) index for permanent dentition and the dft index for primary dentition were used since they give good perception about the situation of tooth caries in young patients. RESULTS The highest mean total dft/DFT was seen in normal weight and lowest average in at risk of overweight children. There was not a statistically significant relationship found between high weight and caries frequency in the first (p=0.08) and permanent dentitions (p=0.06). CONCLUSION The results of this preliminary study do not support an association between dental caries and obesity.