A New Dietary Intake Measure and Its Relationship to Caries Experience

Abstract

Aim the main aim of this study was to examine the usability of a new dietary measure among a high caries population and examine whether reported food intake, when weighted by frequency and cariogenicity, was associated with increased caries rates within a high caries population. Key method Two hundred and eighteen children with caries were examined using standard caries diagnostic criteria. The examinations were carried out by a single calibrated dental examiner. A food frequency table was completed by the parents of each participant and this was analysed by weighting foods’ cariogenic potential by the frequency of consumption, and summing the product. The total cariogenicity score for each child was then plotted against its dmft and dt and correlation coefficients were calculated. Result the mean cariogenicity score using this new measure was 71.02, with a range of 31.96 to 135.24. The standard deviation was 16.72. Total cariogenicity scores using the new measure and dmft were weakly correlated, with the Pearson correlation co-efficient being 0.130 and for dt 0.131. These correlations did not reach significance. Conclusion The study has demonstrated that in children with caries, reported food intake (when weighted by frequency and cariogenicity) and caries are only weakly and non-significantly associated. Dietary intake, when measured in a way, which takes account of all food groups, was therefore not strongly associated with caries when measured on an individual level.