Association between Dental Caries and Body Mass Index (BMI) among Adolescents in Urban Area of North-Western Bangladesh
Keywords:
Dental caries, BMI, Adolescents, DMFT, Multivariate linear regression
Abstract
This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the potential association between body mass index (BMI) and dental caries (DMFT) in adolescents aged 12-16 years in Rangpur, Bangladesh. A total of 300 students participated in the study. Dental caries prevalence was assessed using the DMFT index, and BMI was calculated according to standardized protocols. Socioeconomic status, sugar consumption, and physical activity levels were also captured through questionnaires. Statistical analysis employed multivariate logistic regression and linear regression models to explore the relationships between BMI, dental caries, and other factors. Dental caries (DMFT > 0) was present in 54.1% of participants, while 32% were classified as overweight or obese. A statistically significant positive correlation was observed between BMI and DMFT (P = 0.008). Compared to those within the normal BMI range, obese participants were 1.79 times more likely to exhibit healthy teeth (DMFT = 0) (P = 0.02). Higher socioeconomic status (P = 0.005) and fluoridated toothpaste use (P = 0.02) were also associated with a greater likelihood of healthy teeth. Physical activity displayed a significant negative association with BMI (P < 0.001). This study demonstrated a positive association between BMI and dental caries in Rangpuri teenagers. Interestingly, obese participants were more likely to have healthy teeth, potentially signifying the influence of sociodemographic factors and oral hygiene practices in mitigating caries risk. The study highlights the importance of considering socioeconomic context and preventive measures while addressing the link between obesity and dental health in this population.
References
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[2.] Hayden, Ceara, Jennifer O. Bowler, Stephanie Chambers, Ruth Freeman, Gerald Humphris, Derek Richards, and Joanne E. Cecil. "Obesity and dental caries in children: a systematic review and meta‐analysis." Community dentistry and oral epidemiology 41, no. 4 (2013): 289-308.
[3.] Sadida, Zayyana Jasmine, Ratna Indriyanti, and Arlette Suzy Setiawan. "Does growth stunting correlate with oral health in children?: a systematic review." European Journal of Dentistry 16, no. 01 (2022): 32-40.
[4.] Padez, Cristina, Isabel Mourão, Pedro Moreira, and Vitor Rosado. "Prevalence and risk factors for overweight and obesity in Portuguese children." Acta Paediatrica 94, no. 11 (2005): 1550-1557.
[5.] Do Carmo, Isabel, Osvaldo Dos Santos, José Camolas, João Vieira, Mário Carreira, Luís Medina, Lima Reis, John Myatt, and Alberto Galvão‐Teles. "Overweight and obesity in Portugal: national prevalence in 2003–2005." Obesity reviews 9, no. 1 (2008): 11-19.
[6.] Macek MD and Mitola DJ (2006). Exploring the association between overweight and dental caries among US children, Pediatr Dent 28: 375-80.
[7.] Talma, Julie H. "Prevalence of Childhood Obesity Risk Factors (Diet, Physical Activity, and Family History) and Body Mass Index-for-Age among School-aged Children." Master's thesis, D'Youville College, 2018.
[8.] Hannon, Tamara S., and Silva A. Arslanian. "Obesity in adolescents." New England Journal of Medicine 389, no. 3 (2023): 251-261.
[9.] Marra, Alice, Adele Bondesan, Diana Caroli, Graziano Grugni, and Alessandro Sartorio. "The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) positively correlates with the presence and severity of metabolic syndrome in obese adults, but not in obese children/adolescents." BMC Endocrine Disorders 23, no. 1 (2023): 121.
[10.] Alkarimi, Heba A., Richard G. Watt, Hynek Pikhart, Aubrey Sheiham, and Georgios Tsakos. "Dental caries and growth in school-age children." Pediatrics 133, no. 3 (2014): e616-e623.
[11.] Moradi, Ghobad, Amjad Mohamadi Bolbanabad, Ardavan Moinafshar, Hemn Adabi, Mona Sharafi, and Bushra Zareie. "Evaluation of oral health status based on the decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index." Iranian journal of public health 48, no. 11 (2019): 2050.
[12.] Patel, Reena N., K. A. Eaton, Nigel Pitts, A. Schulte, K. Pieper, and S. White. "Variation in methods used to determine national mean DMFT scores for 12-year-old children in European countries." Community dental health 33, no. 4 (2016): 286-291.
[13.] Alm A, Isaksson H, Fahraeus C, Koch G, Andersson-Gare B and Nilsson M (2011). BMI status in Swedish children and young adults in relation to caries prevalence, Swed Dent J. 35: 1–8.
[14.] Chen, Dongru, Qinghui Zhi, Yan Zhou, Ye Tao, Liping Wu, and Huancai Lin. "Association between dental caries and BMI in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Caries research 52, no. 3 (2018): 230-245.
[15.] Abdelhamid, Nada, Habtom Bahta, Saud Mohammed, Chandrakant Dhanni, and Ahmed Mohammed Elfatih. "Prevalence of dental caries and evaluation of mean DMFT index among secondary school students in Asmara, Eritrea." African Journal of Oral Health 8, no. 2 (2019): 1-7.
[16.] Amirabadi, Foroogh, Edris Bazafshan, Javid Dehghan, and Mohammad Ali Zazouli. "Evaluation of DMFT index in the 8-12 years old students of Zahedan City, Iran." Iranian journal of health sciences 3, no. 2 (2015): 52-60.
[17.] Skeie, Marit S., Abhijit Sen, Göran Dahllöf, Tone Natland Fagerhaug, Hedda Høvik, and Kristin S. Klock. "Dental caries at enamel and dentine level among European adolescents–a systematic review and meta-analysis." BMC Oral Health 22, no. 1 (2022): 620.
[18.] Alves LS, Susin C, Damé-Teixeira N and Maltz M (2013). Overweight and obesity are not associated with dental caries among 12-year-old South Brazilian school children, Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 41: 224–31.
[19.] Sadeghi, M., and M. W. Roberts. "The Relationship between BMI-for-age (BMI-%) and dmft Index of 6-year-Old Children in Rafsanjan, Iran." Int J Dent Oral Health 2, no. 2 (2016): 51.
[20.] Kazeminia, Mohsen, Alireza Abdi, Shamarina Shohaimi, Rostam Jalali, Aliakbar Vaisi-Raygani, Nader Salari, and Masoud Mohammadi. "Dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children’s worldwide, 1995 to 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Head & face medicine 16 (2020): 1-21.
[21.] Angelopoulou, Matina V., Mitchell Beinlich, and Alexander Crain. "Early childhood caries and weight status: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Pediatric dentistry 41, no. 4 (2019): 261-272.
[22.] van Loveren, Cor. "Sugar restriction for caries prevention: amount and frequency. Which is more important?." Caries research 53, no. 2 (2019): 168-175.
[23.] World Health Organization. Oral health surveys: basic methods. World Health Organization, 2013.
[24.] Niessen, Linda C., and Denise J. Fedele. "Oral Health for People with Special Needs: Older Adults Implications for Private Dental Practitioners." Journal of the California Dental Association 33, no. 9 (2005): 695-703.
[25.] Alswat K, Mohamed WS, Wahab MA and Aboelil AA (2016). The association between body mass index and dental caries: cross-sectional study, J Clin Med Res. 8(2): 147- 152.
[26.] Sharma A, Srivastava A, Jain M, Jain V, Yadav N and Mishra T (2019). Assessment of Dental caries Prevalence among Adolescents Aged 12 To 15 Years in Faridabad, India, Indian Journal of Public Health Research and Development 10(5): 178-182.
[27.] Sharma B, Indushekar KR, Saraf BG, Sardana D, Sheoran N and Mavi S (2019). Are dental caries and overweight/obesity interrelated? A cross-sectional study in rural and urban preschool children. Journal of Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry 37(3): 224.
[28.] Lešić, Stjepanka, Zrinka Ivanišević, Bruno Špiljak, Matej Tomas, Magdalena Šoštarić, and Aleksandar Včev. "The Impact of Vitamin Deficiencies on Oral Manifestations in Children." Dentistry Journal 12, no. 4 (2024): 109.
[29.] Jafar, Zainab Juma, and Raya Rashid Aldafaai. "Effect of Nutritional Status on Dental Caries and Salivary Alkaline Phosphatase in a Group of Children." Int Med J 29, no. 1 (2022): 64-7.
[30.] Cooke, Richard, Olivier Goulet, Koen Huysentruyt, Koen Joosten, Anuradha Vaman Khadilkar, Meng Mao, Rosan Meyer, Andrew M. Prentice, and Atul Singhal. "Catch-Up Growth in Infants and Young Children With Faltering Growth: Expert Opinion to Guide General Clinicians." Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 77, no. 1 (2023): 7-15.
[31.] Timothy CN, Venugopalan S and Ganapathy D (2019). Knowledge, attitude, and practice on consumption of sweets by children <6 years in urban areas. Drug Invention Today 11(2).
[32.] Ashi H, Campus G, Klingberg G, Forslund, H B and Lingström P (2019). Childhood obesity in relation to sweet taste perception and dental caries–a cross-sectional multicenter study. Food and nutrition research, 63.
[33.] Pinto A, Kim S, Wadenya R and Rosenberg H (2007). Is there an association between weight and dental caries among pediatric patients in an urban dental school? A correlation study. J Dent Educ. 71: 1435–40.
[34.] Jacob, Jubbin Jagan. "Tackling the Rising Tide: Understanding the Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in India." Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism 28, no. 2 (2024): 101-103.
[35.] Mustafa, Farzana. "Study of Lipid prolife and Blood Pressure in Obese and Non-Obese patients–A Comparative study." European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine 13, no. 4 (2023).
[36.] Kwarteng, Esther A., Lisa M. Shank, Loie M. Faulkner, Lucy K. Loch, Syeda Fatima, Suryaa Gupta, Hannah E. Haynes et al. "Influence of puberty on relationships between body composition and blood pressure: a cross-sectional study." Pediatric research 94, no. 2 (2023): 781-788.
Published
2026-01-30
How to Cite
Hossain, A., & Razib Mustafiz, M. (2026). Association between Dental Caries and Body Mass Index (BMI) among Adolescents in Urban Area of North-Western Bangladesh. Sciencestatistics: Journal of Statistics, Probability, and Its Application, 4(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.24127/sciencestatistics.v4i1.10289
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Articles
