Does Body Mass Index affect Tooth Eruption Sequence? A Study among 6-7 Years Old Schoolchildren in Chennai, India

Changes in eruption pattern cause malocclusion and crowding, which lead to poor oral hygiene as well as periodontal disorders. Hence, it is important for the dentist to know the exact tooth eruption sequence to educate the parents. Tooth eruption sequence we follow is based on the Western population.

As Indian population differs from the Western population in ethnicity, racially, and dietary habits, etc., an attempt was undertaken to compare eruption sequence of Indian children in accordance with the Western population and also to correlate whether body mass index (BMI) affects tooth eruption.

Body mass index and eruption status of permanent mandibular central incisors and first molars were recorded among 529 schoolchildren in Chennai. Eruption status was examined with the help of mouth mirrors and illumination under natural light. The recorded data were entered into Microsoft Excel 2007 and were analyzed using Chi-square test, z test, and Spearman's correlation test. Level of significance was set as 0.05.

Eruption values attained from our study were not consistent with the eruption values reported by Logan and Kronfeld. The present study showed that girls have early tooth eruption than boys. Our findings showed negative correlation with respect to BMI and eruption sequence of 31 (r = -0.133), 41 (r = -0.140), 36 (r = -0.08), and 46 (r = -0.076).

Eruption values reported by Logan and Kronfeld are inappropriate for Indian population. It is also found that obese children had delayed tooth eruption when compared with underweight children who had early tooth eruption.

Anu V, Brindha JR, Carol PT, et al. Does Body Mass Index affect Tooth Eruption Sequence? A Study among 6-7 Years Old Schoolchildren in Chennai, India. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(3):261-263.