İnvestigation of the relationship between dental caries and childhood urinary tract infections

Objectives: The most common infections during childhood and adolescence are upper respiratory tract infections, followed by urinary tract infections. Tooth decay is a multifactorial and infectious disease that occurs when bacteria multiply in the mouth and settle in the teeth and gums and gradually interact with diet and host factors. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether there is any relationship between dental caries and urinary tract infections. Materials and methods: One hundred forty-one patients aged 5-17 years admitted to the Adıyaman University Medical Faculty Child Health and Diseases Emergency Department, outpatient clinics and diagnosed with urinary tract infection during pediatric ward hospitalization between January and June, 2017, were included in the study. The cases were divided into four groups depending on type of dental decay and urinary tract infection. Age, sex, tooth brushing habits, hematological, biochemical and serological tests, complete urine analysis, urine culture, blood culture, urinary system ultrasonography parameters and numbers of decayed teeth were recorded. Data were analyzed on Statistical Package For Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Student's t test, the chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, ANOVA, one-way analysis of variance and post hoc tests were used to compare data. Results: There was no significant difference in numbers of decayed teeth among the four groups (cystitis with tooth decay, pyelonephritis with tooth decay, cystitis without tooth decay and pyelonephritis without tooth decay cases). Numbers of decayed teeth were signifantly higher in the pyelonephritis group compared to the cystitis and pyelonephritis groups. Escherichia coli was the most common causative agent in all groups. RBC, Hct, albumin, amylase, calcium, chlorine, iron and phosphorus levels were low while positive acute phase reactors such as WBC, CRP and ESR values were high in the pyelonephritis with tooth decay group. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of Hgb, MCV, PLT, MPV, glucose, urea, creatinine, uric acid, AST, ALT, ALP, LDH, GGT, sodium and potassium values. Conclusion: Positive correlation was determined between pyelonephritis and numbers of decayed teeth. Key words: Child, Tooth decay, Urinary tract infection.