Effect of Dental Caries on Children Growth

Abstract

Objectives: The study examined the hypothesis that severe dental caries may affect growth and development in preschool children. Methods: The study examined 218 children with severe caries using standard diagnostic criteria. All children were weighed and measured and a food frequency questionnaire was completed for each. Six months subsequent to tooth extraction, 131 of the children were followed up and underwent repeat measurement of height, weight, dental health and food intake. For each child, body mass index (BMI) was calculated, and all measurements were converted into standard deviation scores and compared to the UK 1990 growth reference. Results: In the six months period after having their decayed teeth extracted the children’s BMIs had increased by 0.654. Two-sided t-tests for paired data showed this difference to be significant (P< 0.01). Conclusion: Treatment of gross dental disease appears to promote "catch-up" growth and normalisation of body mass index.