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Updated: Aug 28, 2025

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Correlation of Body Mass Index to Oral Hygiene and Dental Caries in School Students: An Original Research
Kunal Jha1, Nishath Sayed Abdul2, Karan Cecil Baldev3
1Department of Public Health Dentistry, Kalinga Institute of Dental Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubneswar, Odisha, India.
Introduction:
The general health of the individual can be calculated using the body mass index (BMI). In our study, we aim to evaluate the association of the BMI to the oral hygiene (OH) and dental caries (DC), in the school pupils.
Materials And Methods:
We piloted a cross-sectional study with 1000 participants of the ages 5-15 years with mixed dentition. We evaluated the BMI and the Oral Hygeine Index (OHI), DC. We compared the two oral parameters among pupils to the BMI using "ANOVA and Logistic regression analysis" for the identification of the significance and correlation.
Results:
We observed a significant variation for the different categories of the BMI and the OH, DC. BMI and the OHI, DC both depicted a strong and positive correlation.
Conclusions:
The nutritional status and the oral health are interrelated. Good oral health has to be promoted for the better general health.
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