Prevalence of dental caries in obese and normal-weight Brazilian adolescents attending state and private schools.

OBJECTIVE

To measure the association between dental caries and obesity in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years attending state and private schools.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study.

METHODS

State and private schools in the state of Paraiba, Brazil.

METHODS

1665 obese and 1665 normal-weight adolescents.

METHODS

These were chosen by means of an anthropometric study using height/age and weight/height indices, adopting as baseline the National Center for Health Statistics indices. The diagnostic criteria for caries were those of the World Health Organization (1997).

RESULTS

The average DMFT for obese adolescents from state schools was 4.27 and for those of normal weight it was 4.25 (p = 0.7802). In private schools, the corresponding figures were 1.90 and 1.91, respectively (p = 0.1151). In state schools, the caries prevalence amongst the obese group was 50.9% and amongst those of normal weight, 52.4% (p = 0.5393). In private schools, it was 9.0% amongst the obese group and 9.6% amongst those of normal weight (p 0.6790).

CONCLUSIONS

There was no statistically significant association between dental caries and obesity. Caries levels were higher amongst adolescents attending state schools.