Study the Relation between Dietary Intake and Oral Hygiene and Dental Caries during Childhood

Abstract

Dental caries is the most common disease in children and up to eight times more prevalent than asthma ranked the second among all the common diseases in the world. The food habits and some types of food play an important role in induce dental caries. The objective of this study is to assess the relationship between, dietary intake, dietary habits, oral hygiene practices and dental caries during childhood. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 150 children that were selected at random from public hospitals in Benghazi, Libya. Data was obtained by using a questionnaire containing information about the number of carious teeth, dietary intake, habits and oral hygiene habits. The relationship between the risk factors and dental caries was modelled using, Statistics Package Social Science (SPSS). There was a significant statistical difference in the average dental caries among children at (P<0.05) according to sugar amount consumption (P=0.02), as well as to tooth brushing per day (P= 0.03). The average dental caries decreased with increase in times of tooth brushing per day. The prevalence of dental caries in children was an average of 3 carious lesions. Socio-demographic factors, dietary and oral hygiene habits were associated with dental caries.