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Body mass index and dental caries in children aged 5 to 8 years attending a dental paediatric referral practice in the Netherlands

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Research Notes, December 2015
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Title
Body mass index and dental caries in children aged 5 to 8 years attending a dental paediatric referral practice in the Netherlands
Published in
BMC Research Notes, December 2015
DOI 10.1186/s13104-015-1715-6
Pubmed ID
Authors

Maddelon de Jong-Lenters, Paula van Dommelen, Annemarie A. Schuller, Erik H. W. Verrips

Abstract

Obesity and dental caries are widely-recognised problems that affect general health. The prevention of both dental caries and obesity have proven very difficult: children and their parents may need professional support to achieve behaviour change. To find out whether both dental caries and overweight in childhood can be targeted using a common risk factor approach, it is necessary to establish whether the two diseases are indeed linked. The aim of the present study was therefore to use anthropometric data obtained professionally to investigate the association between Body Mass Index and dental caries experience in children aged 5-8 years receiving treatment in a referral centre for paediatric dental care in the Netherlands. Children's dmft and dmfs scores were calculated using dental records and sociodemographic data were also extracted from these records. Dentists were trained to measure standing height and weight in a standardised way. Body Mass Index was calculated by dividing kilograms by height squared (kg/m(2)). Extended International (International Obesity Task Force) body mass index cut-offs were used to define 'no overweight' and 'overweight' (with the latter category including obesity). No statistically significant differences were found between the mean dmft or dmfs scores of the two groups (overweight and non-overweight), even after correction for the effect of the potential confounders sex, socio-economic status and ethnicity. The percentage of caries-active children in the non-overweight group was almost the same as in the overweight group. No statistically significant differences were found. We hypothesised to find a positive association between body mass index and dental caries experience in children aged 5-8 years attending our practice. However, this study did not find a relationship of this kind. A common risk factor approach for the prevention of caries and overweight is therefore not supported by our study.

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Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 74 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 74 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 15 20%
Researcher 8 11%
Student > Bachelor 8 11%
Student > Ph. D. Student 6 8%
Student > Postgraduate 4 5%
Other 14 19%
Unknown 19 26%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 33 45%
Nursing and Health Professions 8 11%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 4%
Social Sciences 3 4%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 2 3%
Other 5 7%
Unknown 20 27%