Dietary intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars and caries experience of 12-13 year old schoolchildren

Abstract

The emergence of clinical care pathways within dentistry has placed renewed emphasis on the caries risk assessment of patients to help predict further disease and guide future prevention and intervention strategies. With dietary intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) a key aetiological factor in the development of caries, the predictive level of risk posed by some dietary habits is questioned. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of dietary habits on the prevalence of dental caries with adolescent schoolchildren. Dietary risk factors concerning the frequency and timing of NMES consumption including snacking between meals and bedtime consumption were investigated to determine if any factors could be utilized to predict caries risk.128 subjects, 12-13 years of age, were randomly selected from an observational epidemiological survey for which the caries status and level of material deprivation was available. Caries experience was recorded with the variable DMFT, where the caries threshold was defined as code 4 (dentine involvement) with the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS). Subjects underwent a 24 hour dietary recall interview with a dietician focussing on NMES intake; an estimation of which was based on McCance and Widdowson's food composition tables. Logistic regression and odds ratio estimation was used to determine if any dietary habits predicted caries experience. The level of statistical significance was set at p=0.05.54 (42%) subjects were found to have caries (ICDAS>4). Chi-square analysis for subject groups with/without caries revealed no significant differences in caries experience between high and low deprivation, consumption of NMES between meals and percentage of total NMES consumed. The consumption of NMES before bedtime revealed a statistically significant difference between the caries/no caries groups (p

Date of Award	31 Dec 2011
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Iain Pretty (Supervisor)