Correlation between Obesity and the Severity of Dental Caries in Healthy Adults

Aims: Dental caries and obesity are mutually common adult diseases that could impact the overall wellbeing and are a problem to the health expenditures. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between body mass index and dental caries in adults. Instrument Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted at Merjan teaching hospital in Babylon, 165 patients were selected by convenience sampling from May to August 2020. Dental caries severity and obesity were identified by decayed, missing, and filled teeth and body mass indices. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation, Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney tests. Findings: One hundred eight participants were obese, and 29 were overweight. 58.2% of the participants had poor ( 10), 12.7% had bad, and 29.1% had well decayed, missing, and filled teeth index. The difference between BMI categories based on decayed, missing, and filled teeth index classes was significant, and those with poor decayed, missing, and filled teeth index were significantly heavier (p=0.004). The mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth index of all the studied participants was 13.6±10.1, which was very bad. The decayed, missing, and filled teeth index and all its components expressed a positive but insignificant correlation with the age of the participants. Conclusion: Dental caries are associated with body mass index but not with age and gender. Overweight people are more likely to have a poor decayed, missing, and filled teeth index.