Premium
A correlation study of diet, oral hygiene and dental caries in 457 Canadian children
Author(s) -
Richardson Alan S.,
Boyd Marcia A.,
Conry Robert F.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1977.tb01645.x
Subject(s) - medicine , oral hygiene , dentistry , hygiene , oral examination , oral health , pathology
The interrelationship of diet, oral hygiene and caries was evaluated. Of the sample size of 457 children, 234 were in grade 1 and 223 grade 7. Five‐day diet surveys were obtained, followed by clinical examinations for oral hygiene and caries. One examiner, using mouth mirror, explorer and extraoral light, conducted the caries examination. From the diet surveys, refined and total carbohydrate consumption was calculated per day; between meals, at meals, and totaled for that day. Five‐day totals, which included one weekend, were recorded along with frequency of eating per day and for the 5‐day periods. Computer analysis revealed no significant correlation between the diet variables and caries or oral hygiene indices and caries. The children with high caries indices did not have the poorest oral hygiene nor consume the most carbohydrates. Similarly, the children with low caries indices did not have the cleanest teeth nor consume lesser amounts of carbohydrates.