The relationship between dental carises, food consumption and anthropometric measurements in adolescents

ABSTRACT Ersarı, T. (2024). Evaluation of the Relationship Between Dental Caries, Food Consumption and Anthropometric Measurements in Adolescents. Master's Thesis, Istanbul Atlas University Institute of Postgraduate Education, Department, Istanbul. Adolescence is one of the fastest periods of growth and development. At the same time, the habits acquired during this period are usually permanent for the rest of the individual's life. Nutrition problems and oral hygiene habits become permanent during this period. Dental caries, which is a kind of oral infection, is one of the most important problems of the adolescent period. Foods have different effects on dental health. Streptococcus mutant bacteria, dietary sugar and sensitive tooth surface are the main causes of caries. This study was conducted on adolescents to examine the relationship between dental caries and nutrition. The study included 102 adolescents who applied to Gaziantep Smile Academy Oral and Dental Health Clinic with complaints of dental caries. A voluntary questionnaire was applied to the participants and anthropometric measurements and intraoral examination forms were taken. In the questionnaire, oral hygiene practices, daily consumption of sugary foods and dairy products were questioned. The participants were 48% male and 52% female with a mean age of 14.67 years. It was determined that 98% of the participants had their own toothbrush, 99% brushed their teeth and 66.6% brushed their teeth twice a day. It was determined that 41.7% of the participants knew that toothpastes contained fluoride and 48.1% were uninformed about this issue. In terms of frequency of dental examination, 61.7% of the participants went to the dentist only when there was a complaint. dentist, and 28.4% reported that they had a dental examination once a year. The meal that the participants preferred to consume the most was dinner (85.3%), followed by lunch (73.5%). It is noteworthy that only 58.8% of the individuals preferred to have breakfast. Participants preferred sugary foods mostly in the afternoon snack (70.6%). The meal at which the participants consumed milk the most was the night meal and 38.2% stated that they consumed milk several times a week. Individuals prefer to consume cheese mostly at breakfast. More than half of the participants stated that they consume 1-2 servings of fruit and 1-2 servings of vegetables daily. When anthropometric measurements were evaluated, body weights, height, waist circumferences, BMI values and waist-to-height ratios of individuals were separated according to gender and significant differences were found between genders in all variables. 62.7% of the individuals were in the normal BMI range and 38.2% had Z scores between 0 and 1. When the data from the 24-hour food consumption record were analyzed, it was observed that individuals were able to meet only their Phosphorus and Thiamine needs and could not meet the remaining energy, vitamin and mineral needs. When the relationship between dental caries and anthropometric measurements was examined, it was found that oral and dental health deteriorated as body weight, height and waist circumference increased, while no relationship was found between BMI and waist-to-height ratio and oral health. There was also no relationship between tooth brushing frequency and dental health. When the relationship between consumption of milk and dairy products (including cheese, yogurt and kefir) and sugary drinks and dental caries was examined, a very weak positive relationship was found between soy milk consumption and dental caries. When the effect of sugar types on caries was examined, a very weak positive interaction was observed between the amount of fructose and caries formation. As a result, the amount of sugary food consumption of adolescents is similar to the existing literature. When the data from the 24-hour food consumption record are analyzed, the rates of meeting the needs of individuals are quite low. Significant differences were found between boys and girls in terms of anthropometric measurements. When the effect of dental caries on nutrition was analyzed, it was observed that consumption of fructose may cause dental caries and soy milk may also cause caries. Regarding the relationship between anthropometric measurements and caries, it was observed that DMFT index increased as body weight increased.