title: Short communication: Dmfs and BMI in preschool Greek children. An epidemiological study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between dental caries (dmfs) and body mass index (BMI) categories in 3-5.5 year old children in Thessaloniki, Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in 18 municipal day care centres and involved 361 children. The dmfs was determined on site by one calibrated examiner using disposable dental mirrors and a penlight. The height and weight of the children were measured on site by a nutritionist, who grouped them into four BMI categories, shown in the results.
  
  
  METHODS
  The estimation of the relationship between the BMI and dmfs values was based on a generalized linear model (Poisson log-linear regression) while the sequential Bonferroni method was used for pair-wise comparisons between BMI categories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean dmfs values for each BMI category were: 1.02 (SD=2.41) for the underweight (n=44), 0.74 (SD=2.24) for the normal weight (n=281), 1.88 (SD=4.28) for the overweight (n=26) and 0.80 (SD=2.53) for the obese (n=10). Overweight children were found to show statistically significant differences in dmfs values compared with both children of normal weight (p<0.001) and those underweight (p=0.015).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight Greek pre-school children are at higher risk of dental caries.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. P.C. 54124. alexander.tr@hotmail.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trikaliotis
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boka
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kotsanos
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Karagiannis
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hassapidou
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012306:Risk; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric