The effect of diet drinks on caries among US children: Cluster analysis

The effect of sugared beverages on dental caries has been widely studied in dental literature. A major limitation of these studies was examining the beverages as a single source. To overcome this limitation, a few studies used cluster analysis to group people into similar beverage consumption patterns. These studies did not differentiate between sugared beverages and diet drinks. Therefore the aim of this study is to examine the effect of consuming diet drinks on dental caries among US children by using cluster analysis.

In this cross-sectional study, the authors analyzed the dietary data of children aged 3 through 10 years, using 2 24-hour recall interviews in the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Cluster analysis has been used to overcome the limitations of examining the beverages as a single source. Clusters were identified based on the R² statistic and the local peak of pseudo-F statistics. Survey procedure and sample weights were used to account for the complex National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey sampling design.

Six beverage consumption clusters were identified: high soda, high 100% juice, high juice drinks, high diet drinks, high milk, and high water. Regression analysis showed that the high soda cluster had a tendency to increase caries risk (odds ratio [OR], 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9 to 3.1), while the high diet drinks cluster had neutral effect compared with the high water cluster (OR, 0.94, 95% CI, 0.5 to 1.8).

The results of this study suggest that diet drinks have no adverse effect on teeth among US children. Additional well-designed longitudinal studies should be conducted to establish the effect of diet drinks on caries when consumed during childhood.

Although this study did not show an association between caries and diet drinks, dental practitioners should be cautious about recommending these drinks, as they have been linked to systemic diseases. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics and National Academy of Medicine do not recommend that children consume these beverages.