Is malnutrition associated with crowding in permanent dentition?

Area of Science:

• Nutrition and Oral Health
• Pediatric Dentistry
• Public Health

Background:

• Energy-protein malnutrition can impede facial bone development.
• Dental crowding, a misalignment of teeth due to insufficient eruption space, is a common concern in permanent dentition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between nutritional status and dental crowding in adolescents.
• To identify potential risk factors, such as mouth breathing, that may modify this relationship.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 2,060 adolescents aged 12-15 years in Northeast Brazil.
• Nutritional status assessed using Body Mass Index (BMI) and height-for-age z-scores based on World Health Organization (WHO) growth curves.
• Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate odds ratios (OR) for the association between nutritional status and crowding, controlling for confounding factors.

Main Results:

• A significant association was found between low height-for-age (z-score < -1SD) and dental crowding, but only in adolescents with a history of prolonged mouth breathing (OR = 3.1).
• No association was observed between underweight status and dental crowding.
• Mouth breathing emerged as a significant effect modifier in the relationship between malnutrition and dental crowding.

Conclusions:

• Malnutrition, indicated by low height-for-age, is associated with dental crowding in permanent dentition among adolescents who are habitual mouth breathers.
• Public health interventions should focus on improving nutritional status (reducing low height-for-age) and addressing detrimental oral habits like mouth breathing.
• Further research is recommended to confirm these findings and elucidate the underlying mechanisms linking malnutrition, mouth breathing, and dental crowding.