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Published on: March 29, 2018
SCHOOL DIETARY HABITS AND INCIDENCE OF DENTAL CARIES
Celia Monteagudo1, Francisco Téllez1, Leticia Heras-González1
1Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Research Group Nutrition, Diet and Risk Assessment (AGR-255), University of Granada.. folea@ugr.es.
Introduction:
healthy dietary habits are considered to improve oral health and tooth quality. Caries treatment comprises tooth restoration with dental composites and sealants, almost all (> 90%) of which contain bisphenol A (BPA). Study hypotheses were: a) breakfast and oral hygiene habits are important factors in dental caries development; and b) dental caries treatment with epoxy-resins entails a risk of oral exposure to monomers migrating from the polymeric material. We evaluated caries in the teeth of a Spanish school population and determined the percentage treated with dental composites.
Objective:
to relate consumption of breakfast components and oral hygiene habits to dental caries and determine the presence of sealants/composites as potential sources of BPA exposure.
Methods:
subjects: 582 schoolchildren from Granada city (Southern Spain) aged 7 yrs; mean (SD) of 7.55 (0.64) yrs.
Results:
caries was detected in 21.7% of their teeth. Mean breakfast quality index (BQI) score, based on nutritional questionnaires, was 5.18 (1.29). Breakfast with foods rich in simple sugars representing > 5% of total daily energy was consumed by 24% of the population and was significantly associated with caries frequency in binary logistic regression analysis. Biscuit consumption was reported by 35.8% and significantly associated with caries frequency. Breakfast intake of bakery products/ cereals and of dairy products showed a significant inverse association with caries frequency. No significant relationship was observed between caries and BQI score or oral hygiene factors.
Conclusion:
further research is required to elucidate the role of diet in caries and the associated risk of exposure to estrogenic xenobiotics such as BPA.
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