Cariogenic Dietary Assessment Using a Mobile App in Children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Dentistry
• Oral Health Research
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• A direct correlation exists between high-sugar diets and dental caries.
• Assessing dietary cariogenicity is crucial for understanding caries risk in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between diet cariogenicity, assessed via a novel mobile application, and caries risk in children.
• To determine the efficacy of a mobile app in analyzing dietary patterns and their impact on oral health.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 247 children (aged 2-15) underwent dietary assessment (24-h recall) and clinical examination for caries (dmft/DMFT-ICDAS).
• A mobile app was utilized to analyze dietary intake, calculate cariogenicity, estimate oral pH, and generate a cariogenic dietary risk score.
• Multivariate logistic regression analyzed the association between cariogenic diet and caries across different age groups.

Main Results:

• The app-assessed cariogenic diet showed a positive association with caries across all age groups (dfmt/dmft/DMFT).
• Significant correlations were observed between diet cariogenicity and caries prevalence in children aged 2-6, 7-11, and 12-15 years.
• Lower parental educational level was linked to a higher caries risk in younger children.

Conclusions:

• The mobile app provides an accurate assessment of diet cariogenicity and its association with increased caries risk in children.
• This application can serve as a valuable tool for dentists, enabling efficient and structured dietary counseling to mitigate caries.
• The app facilitates a more educational and time-saving approach to dietary assessment and caries prevention in clinical settings.