Obesity and dental caries--A systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper was to undertake a systematic review about the relationship between obesity in childhood, adolescence and/or adulthood and the prevalence of dental caries.


METHODS
The authors searched Bireme, Medline, ISI, Cochrane Library and the internet for papers from 1984-2004. The main search terms were 'obesity' and 'dental caries'. The inclusion criteria were studies that defined obesity (body mass index) and dental caries (total number of decayed, and filled teeth - DFT/DFS/dft/dfs) in their subjects. The following were excluded from this paper: articles on reviews, dietary guidelines, policy statements, papers related to oral health and nutrition deficiency--underweight, and with no relation between obesity and dental caries prevalence or dental health problems.


RESULTS
No systematic review has focused on correlating obesity and caries and only three stud ies had high levels of evidence.


CONCLUSIONS
Only one study with high level of evidence showed direct association between obesity and dental caries. In view of the findings, further well-designed randomised studies are needed to demonstrate the relationship between dental caries and obesity.
Kantovitz
Kamila Rosamilia
KR
Department of Paediatric Dentistry, University of Campinas, Brazil.
Pascon
Fernando Miori
FM
Rontani
Regina Maria Puppin
RM
Gavião
Maria Beatriz Duarte
MB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology