Obesity and the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery

Obesity is a disease that affects approximately 51 million Americans. The purpose of this paper is to establish the frequency of overweight and obese patients in an urban inner city oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) center, to provide an overview of the commonly applied standards and methods of establishing obesity, and to discuss the clinical and surgical implications that obesity has on the dispensing of office oral and maxillofacial surgical and anesthetic care.

Consecutive patients presenting with oral and maxillofacial health needs were routinely screened for sex, age, blood pressure, pulse, height, and weight. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated in pounds using a standard mathematical formula for adults. Comparative statistical methods were used to depict the data.

The study included 520 patients. The average age of all patients was 34.55 years, average height was 66.58 inches, and average weight was 176.71 lbs with an average BMI of 28.5. One hundred ninety-four females (67%) were recorded as overweight and 130 females (45%) were recorded as obese (BMI>30). Fewer males were overweight (55%) or obese (25%).

Sixty-five percent of the patients observed in this study were judged as overweight or obese compared to a national average of 61%. Females of all ages were more likely to be overweight or obese compared to males. The complexities of treating a substantial number of obese patients in an OMS practice deserve more study.