The Impact of Body Mass Index on Oral Hygiene Practices of Adolescents in Bhopal City, India.

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of Body Mass Index (BMI) on oral hygiene practices of adolescents in Bhopal City, India. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Arts College, Bhopal, from February to March 2014. METHODOLOGY Aconvenience sample of 17 - 23 years college-going adolescents from Arts College, Bhopal city was selected for the study. Self-reported questionnaire for adolescents to assess BMI and oral hygiene attitude, knowledge and practices was used. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were applied. RESULTS Out of the total study population, 53.54% (n=166) were males and 46.45% (n=144) were females. Two hundred and six (66.45%) were of optimal weight, 27.74% (n=86) were underweight and only 4.52% (n=14) were overweight. There was a significant association between BMI and oral hygiene practice of toothbrushing (p < 0.001) and mouth rinsing (p=0.001) among both male and female subjects. CONCLUSION Hence, BMI is significantly associated with the oral hygiene practices of adolescent population. There is growing interest in the relationship between BMI and oral health because both are significant public health concerns. These public health problems are related to common lifestyle factors such as unhealthy eating habits and smoking among children. These maladapted habits track into later life as predictors of increased BMI and oral health problems. Hence, it is required that the dentists are aware of the influence of body mass Index and lifestyle on oral health practices among children and adolescents.