Sugar, drinks, deprivation and dental caries in 14-year-old children in the north west of England in 1995

Objectives: To examine associations between dental caries and reported drink consumption. Design A cross-sectional caries prevalence study including reported drink consumption. Setting: Secondary schools across the former North Western Region of England. Subjects: A random sample of 6,014, 14-year-old children. Results: The mean DMFT of the sample was 2.74. The reported mean weekly consumption of cans of carbonated drinks was 5.66, with a range of zero to 42. There was a significant gender difference in drink consumption and a significant correlation between the reported weekly consumption of cans of carbonated drinks and DMFT. Logistic regression analysis showed tea drinkers had a significantly lower DMFT than coffee drinkers and that this effect was independent of the addition of sugar and the number of cans of drink consumed. Reported use of sugar-free carbonated drinks was not associated with better dental health. Conclusions: Reported consumption of sugared drinks and carbonated drinks was associated with significantly higher levels of dental caries. Drinking tea was associated with lower levels of caries. Sugar-free drinks were not associated with better dental health.