Eating Habits and Their Relationship to Oral Health.

Dennys Tenelanda-López,Pedro Valdivia-Moral,Manuel Castro-Sánchez

doi:10.3390/nu12092619

Dennys Tenelanda-López, Pedro Valdivia-Moral + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092619

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Abstract

The objective of this research was to compare the healthy behaviors and caries index of young people in school to obtain an overview of their lifestyles, which would enable the development of educational programs for the promotion of oral health. The study design was carried out using a descriptive, cross-sectional, and observational methodology with a mixed approach. 380 twelve-year-old students participated in this research conducted in the city of Riobamba-Ecuador. The techniques used were observational and surveys with their respective instruments, the Dental Clinical History, and the Health Behavior in School-aged Children 2014-Spain questionnaire. The community index of the Decayed, Missing due to caries, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) reflected a high level (6.47) in the study subjects. A variety of foods such as fruits, chips, vegetables, candy, sugar-containing drinks, meat, fish, dairy, and cereals were consumed at least once a week by most students. Two statistically significant associations were demonstrated in this investigation. The first one was between fruit consumption and the DMFT index, the second one was between vegetable consumption and the DMFT index. Both associations showed significant values (p) of 0.049 and 0.028, respectively; these were not determining indicators since caries is a multifactorial pathology, which can develop not only as a product of poor eating habits.

Highlights

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers that having good oral health is essential for having good quality of life
According to the WHO and the World Dental Federation (WDF), cited in Ortega [2], it is estimated that the prevalence of dental caries in children under 12 years of age corresponds to no more than three teeth maximum by 2020
The total value (2460) of all decayed (1744), missing (144), and filled (572) teeth pieces divided by the number of individuals examined (380) was considered to establish the DMFT community index of this research, giving a value of 6.47; the second instrument was used to obtain information on eating habits; the dimensions used were chosen from the eating habits section of items 2.3 to 2.11 of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2014-Spain questionnaire

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers that having good oral health is essential for having good quality of life. According to the WHO and the World Dental Federation (WDF), cited in Ortega [2], it is estimated that the prevalence of dental caries in children under 12 years of age corresponds to no more than three teeth maximum by 2020. In this sense, the mission of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health is to promote strategies and actions for the prevention and promotion of oral health based on the lifestyles of its population [3]. The development of caries is sometimes linked to the interaction that occurs from inadequate eating habits, the number of nutrients in food, poor oral hygiene habits, and a high level of bacterial plaque [6]

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