The Effects of Nutritional Quality and Frequency of Consumption of Sugary Foods on Dental Caries Increment

This study investigates the association of dietary quality with dental caries increment of 11-year-old children. A 3-day dietary record including one weekend day was completed by the subjects and their parents. The nutritional quality was evaluated using a quality index based on the eating frequency of foods recommended in food guides and divided into 8 levels. The frequency of consumption of sugary foods, liquid and solid, at and between meals was also calculated. Two oral examinations 20 months apart were made in 1983-85; each time, the quality of oral hygiene was determined by using the simplified oral hygiene index of Greene and Vermilion. The dental caries increment between the two examinations was evaluated using the DMFS index. When the subjects were distributed into 3 groups according to their nutritional quality index, the mean dental caries increment had a tendency to decrease as the nutritional quality increased for the total sample as well as for boys and girls considered separately; however, the analysis of variance did not reveal any differences of statistical significance. No association was established for children in this study between frequency of consumption of sugary foods and caries increment. No association was observed between nutritional quality and oral hygiene nor between the mother's education and the children's frequency of consumption of sugary foods. Thus, in our study, children with the highest dental caries increment are not necessarily the ones having a diet of poor nutritional quality nor the ones consuming sugary foods more frequently. Une étude longitudinale a été menée afin d'établir une association entre la qualité de l'alimentation, la fréquence de consommation de sucreries liquides et solides et l'incidence de la carie dentaire chez des enfants âgés de 11 ans. Deux examens dentaires ont été faits à 20 mois d'intervalle, en 1983 et 1985; l'indice CAOF a été calculé à chaque examen et l'augmentation de la carie a ainsi été obtenue. Avec l'aide de leurs parents, les enfants ont rédigé un relevé alimentaire de 3 jours incluant une journée de fin de semaine. La qualité nutritionnelle a été déterminée selon une échelle comprenant 8 niveaux basés sur le nombre de portions d'aliments des groupes du Guide alimentaire canadien. Les fréquences de consommation d'aliments sucrés liquides et solides, aux repas ou entre les repas ont aussi été calculées. Même si les résultats démontrèrent que l'augmentation de la carie dentaire ava