Association of Dental Caries with Body Mass Index in Patients Attending Dental OPD of Tertiary Care Hospital, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Dental caries area public health problem. Its prevalence is about 60% in the Pakistani population. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to correlate the association between decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) score and its body mass index in patients visiting the Dental Department of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 to May 2021 at the Department of Operative Dentistry Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences. Patients with age 16 to 70 years with presence of atleast 15 to 18 permanent teeth were included in te study. Patients having primary teeth were set in exclusion criteria. For Dental caries status, decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index was used. Height and weight were measured using digital scales. BMI was calculated according to the formula weight in kilograms/height in centimeters. Data were analyzed for descriptive statistics. One Way ANOVA test was used for association. The statistical significance level was evaluated at p<0.05 Results: We were able to obtain the data of a total of 203 patients of which 57% were female.The mean age was 36.7 +/- 13.8. ). The mean DMTF score was 5.7 +/- 3.7. In association of BMI with DMTF score, females BMI was statistically significant with DMTF score with p=0.039 and in overall was also significant p=0.002 Conclusion: DMFT score was higher in overweight and obese individuals and it was significant statistically. However, large community based studies are required to confirm the association.