Abstract
Objective: Overweight and obesity rates are growing at alarming levels worldwide. Adolescents of higher socioeconomic status are more likely to be overweight, however, information from economically vulnerable populations is lacking. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the impact of normative and self-perceived clinical aspects on the outcomes of obesity in vulnerable adolescents. Methodology: Observational cross-sectional study with 239 adolescents with an average age of 13 years, enrolled in public schools in Sabará (Minas Gerais). Body Mass Index values were obtained and classified according to AnthroPlus software. Dental Health Component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) evaluated the normative malocclusion and the Aesthetic Component of IOTN the subjective occlusal evaluation. DMFT index evaluated dental caries activity and experience. Crude Odds Ratio values were estimated and adjusted, with a 95% confidence interval and a 5% significance level. Results: Adolescents with self-perceived malocclusion were less likely to be obese (P <0.05). Overall, 20.0% of the adolescents with self-perceived malocclusion were obese as compared to 40.6% of those with no self-perceived malocclusion. Obesity was not found to be associated with the variables of sex and dental caries (P >0.05). Conclusion: Adolescents with self-perceived malocclusion were less likely to be obese, suggesting that obesity is associated with perceived malocclusion, but not with caries experience.
Highlights
Obesity is a chronic multifactorial disease, highly prevalent worldwide (Rando-Meireles et al 2019)
Our findings showed an 8.4% prevalence of self-perceived malocclusion, as compared to 94.6% prevalence of normative malocclusion based on orthodontist’s clinical examination
The variables of sex, normative malocclusion, and caries activity/experience were not associated with obesity (P > 0.05)
Summary
Obesity is a chronic multifactorial disease, highly prevalent worldwide (Rando-Meireles et al 2019). Due to its broad distribution and severe health consequences, obesity remains one of the significant health burdens to the public healthcare system (Markovic et al 2015). Obesity can be associated with dental caries, as both conditions result from high sugar consumption behavior, severely affecting the individual's systemic condition (Rando-Meireles et al 2019, Abbass et al 2019, Gautam & Jeong, 2019). The association between obesity and dental caries outcomes has been a topic of study in recent years (Lara-Capi et al 2018, Shivakumar et al 2018, Gautam & Jeong, 2019). Inter-study comparison may prove a challenging task due to the presence of confounding factors that are not commonly controlled, including socioeconomic characteristics, dietary habits, oral hygiene practice, and oral care provided by healthcare services (Shivakumar et al 2018)
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