Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite the decrease in the prevalence and experience of dental caries in 12-year-old children in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, the quality of life associated with dental health remains low. Consumption of sweet foods has been reported to be associated with a low quality of life. However, associations between nutritional factors and dental caries remain poorly studied in Russia, particularly in the Arctic using the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
 AIM: To study associations between nutritional risk factors and the prevalence and experience of dental caries among 12-year-old children in Arkhangelsk region using WHO criteria.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 1162 children aged 12 years in seven urban and five rural settings of Arkhangelsk region participated in a cross-sectional study using the WHO methodology. Bivariate associations between the frequency of consumption of the studied foods and caries were analyzed using Pearsons chi-squared tests. Associations between the average values of the DMFT index and its components across frequency categories of nutritional factors were assessed by a multivariable Poisson regression.
 RESULTS: Adolescents drinking soft drinks once a day or more often had significantly more filled teeth than those in the reference group (p = 0.003). An inverse association was observed between the frequency of tea / coffee / milk consumption and mean DMFT (p = 0.041), which was largely attributed to the differences in the number of filled teeth (p = 0.009). The number of filled teeth among those who consumed tea / coffee / milk at least once a day was 8% lower than in the reference group.
 CONCLUSION: Among adolescents, significant associations were observed between caries experience and consumption of soft drinks and tea / coffee / milk with sugar. Measures aimed at the reduction of consumption of these items should be included in caries prevention programs.
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