Correlation of Body Mass Index to Oral Hygiene and Dental Caries in School Students: An Original Research.

Introduction: The general health of the individual can be calculated using the body mass index (BMI). In our study, we aim to evaluate the association of the BMI to the oral hygiene (OH) and dental caries (DC), in the school pupils. Materials and
Methods: We piloted a cross-sectional study with 1000 participants of the ages 5-15 years with mixed dentition. We evaluated the BMI and the Oral Hygeine Index (OHI), DC. We compared the two oral parameters among pupils to the BMI using "ANOVA and Logistic regression analysis" for the identification of the significance and correlation.
Results: We observed a significant variation for the different categories of the BMI and the OH, DC. BMI and the OHI, DC both depicted a strong and positive correlation. Conclusions: The nutritional status and the oral health are interrelated. Good oral health has to be promoted for the better general health. Copyright:

INTRODUCTION

The silent killer of the 21st century is obesity. The genetic conditions, poor dietary habits, stress, and hormonal imbalances have been attributed to the obesity. The diet has been implicated in the obesity.[12] Dental caries (DC) is also multifactorial similar to the obesity. The association of the DC and the poor dietary habits has been established previously. The oral health is also a factor that has been shown as an index of good health.[345] There are very few studies to establish the association of the BMI and the OH, DC.[234567] Hence, in our study we aim to evaluate the association of the BMI to the oral hygiene (OH) and DC, in the school pupils.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We piloted a cross-sectional study with the participants as school pupils of age group of 5–15 years. We obtained the consent of the guardian and the ethics clearance for the study. The study included 1000 participants and was conducted from 2019 to 2021. The pupils with any medical conditions were excluded from the study. The BMI was evaluated applying the formula “weight in kg/(height in m2).” DC was evaluated based on the Decayed Missing Filled Tooth (DMFT), and dmft. The “simplified OH index” was applied to calculate the OH. The data thus collected were tabulated and compared for significance and correlation using the “ANOVA and Logistic regression analysis tests.” Statistical Package for the Socila Sciences (SPSS) ver 20 was used for the study and P < 0.05 was deliberated as statistically significant.

RESULTS

We observed that of the 1000 subjects there was no significant difference between the genders however male students were more. We calculated the BMI and classified the participants as “underweight, overweight and normal.” The mean OHI was 0.35 ± 29, the maximum OHI was seen for the female among the overweight (0.40 ± 0.96). Significant variations for the BMI and OHI are shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Comparison of the body mass index and the OHI

	BMI	OHI	P
Male	Underweight	0.34±0.32	0.001
	Overweight	0.39±0.41	0.001
	Normal	0.35±0.12	0.001
Female	Underweight	0.33±0.96	0.001
	Overweight	0.40±0.96	0.001
	Normal	0.36±0.12	0.001

BMI: Body mass index, OHI: Oral Hygeine Index

The mean DMFT, dmft are 2.53 ± 0.45, 2.52 ± 0.12. The maximum DMFT/dmft was seen for the overweight females 2.95 ± 0.96 and 2.94 ± 0.12, respectively. When compared with the DMFT/dmft, there was a significant difference for the different BMIs [Table 2].

Table 2

Comparison of the body mass index and the dmft/DMFT

	BMI	DMFT	dmft	P
Male	Underweight	1.02±0.25	1.00±0.12	0.01
	Overweight	2.43±0.45	2.01±0.12	0.01
	Normal	1.04±0.85	1.48±0.12	0.01
Female	Underweight	1.10±0.74	1.01±0.12	0.01
	Overweight	2.95±0.96	2.94±0.12	0.01
	Normal	1.91±0.14	1.03±0.12	0.01

BMI: Body mass index, DMFT: Decayed Missing Filled Tooth

A positive correlation was established between the BMI and the DC, showing the proportional increase of the caries with BMI. Similarly, a positive relation was seen for the OHI and BMI [Table 3].

Table 3

Correlation of the body mass index and dental caries, OHI

Variables	BMI
	P	Coefficient (b)
DC
Deft	<0.01	0.114
DMFT	<0.01	0.034
OHI-S	<0.01	0.028

BMI: Body mass index, DC: Dental caries, DMFT: Decayed Missing Filled Tooth, OHI-S: Oral Hygeine Index Simplified

DISCUSSION

The nations around the world have been impacted with the lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The improper nutrition and the weight have been enumerated as the risk factors for these diseases. The BMI is often used to calculate the nutritional status of the individual.[12345] The obesity has been increasingly reported among the school children these days due to the closure of the live classes due to COVID and the absence of physical activity. In our study, we evaluated the OH, DC, for the various BMI categories. We found that there was a significant difference between the OHI, DC, and the various categories of the BMI. A positive correlation was seen between the BMI and the DC, OHI. We also observed that the overweight females had the maximum scores for both the OHI, DC. Our observations are similar to the previous studies.[234567] Compared to the western countries the food habits vary in India as majority are vegetarians and the nutritional levels are satisfactory. The DC has been noted higher in previous research among the obese subjects, as is in our study.[67] The study highlights the association of the nutritional status to the oral health.

There were few limitations to our study. The BMI cannot be solely taken as the index of nutritional status. The number of the pupils with the lower BMI was slightly greater than the other categories in our study. The caries was diagnosed clinically, that may have miscalculated the proximal caries.

CONCLUSIONS

The oral health and the general health are linked. From the findings of our study, we can conclude that the nutritional status is a significant factor for the oral health and similarly good dental health is essential for the nutritional health. Further studies are suggested to corroborate our findings.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.