Relationship Between Dental Caries (DMFT) and Body Mass Index (BMI) Among Students of Alborz University in 2018-2019

Background: Dental caries is considered as the most common chronic disease and a major health problem in developing countries. Excessive consumption of carbohydrates is one of the most important causes of dental caries as well as obesity. The aim of this study was investigating dental caries (based on DMFT index) and its relation with body mass index (BMI) among students of Alborz University in 2018-2019. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 382 students were choosed by a Quota sampling. Demographic information, dietary, nutrition and hygenic habits were recorded by a questionnaire. Then clinical examination was performed concidering oral health status and DMFT. Also BMI of the participants was calculated by measuring the height and weight of each student. SPSS-19 software was applied for data analysis. Results: Overal 38.2% of the students were male (20.56 ± 1.9 years old) and 61.8% were female (20.59 ± 2.2 years old). The mean of DMFT and BMI of the participants was 6.6 ± 3. 3 teeth and 22.7 ± 3.2 kg/m2 respectively. In all, 0.3% had severe low weight, 8.4% low weight, 68.6% normal, 20.4% overweight, 2.1% class-I obesity and 0.3% class-II obesity. Relationship between DMFT and BMI was not significant (P=0.299). Conclusion: In this study no significant relationship was noticed between DMFT and BMI, which indicates that these two indexes are independent of each other