The Correlation Between Body Mass Index with Dental Caries in Children: a Literature Review

Abstrak

 Nutrition helps nourish the body, which consists of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. It is important for the growth and development of the body, especially teeth’ growth, should it be disturbed, it can cause enamel hypoplasia. The aim was to determine the correlation between Body Mass Index (BMI) and dental caries in children. The method was a systematic review by searching scientific journals on PubMed using keywords: enamel hypoplasia, body mass index, caries, nutrition, from 2007-2020, in Indonesian and English. The results search obtained 126 articles, then 6 suitable articles was selected. A positive correlation was shown between high BMI with caries due to an increment of economic status alongside obesity due to high fat-high energy intake, and lack of physical activity. The increment of cariesprevalence aligns with the increment of sweets as part of lifestyle changes and individual welfare. Similarly, low BMI has a high percentage of caries due to pain and impaired masticatory function, that aligns with decrease of eating frequency and nutritional intake. The conclusion showed there is a correlation between high and low BMI with dental caries in children that caused by economic factors, dietary habitual, and low of body activity. Keywords: enamel hypoplasia, body mass index, caries, nutrition