Influence of Diet and Dietary Habits in Caries Occurrence Among 12- to 15-year-old Adolescents in Shanghai

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of diet and dietary habits on dental caries status in the permanent teeth of 12- to 15-year-old adolescents in Shanghai, China. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional investigation among 11,599 school students aged 12- to 15 years from Shanghai, China. We distributed self-administered questionnaires and performed clinical dental examinations according to WHO guidelines to obtain information about tooth-brushing habits, diet, dietary habits, and dental caries status. We generated a logistic regression model including dental caries-related variables to ascertain the potential risk factors associated with dental caries. Results: The caries prevalence and number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) among the 11,599 12- to 15-year-old students surveyed were 26.2% and 0.59±1.314, respectively. The caries prevalence and DMFT of girls were significantly higher than those of boys (P<0.05). Caries prevalence and DMFT also increased with age (P0.05) in caries prevalence and mean DMFT among groups with different tooth-brushing habits. Logistic regression analysis suggested that the possible risk factors for dental caries included female sex, older age, consuming sugary drinks at least once daily, consuming vegetables once daily or less, and skipping breakfast, with ORs ranging from 1.124 to 1.88 (P<0.05). Conclusion: The caries prevalence among 12- to 15-year-old school students in Shanghai was lower than that reported nationally and in some other developing or developed countries. Diet and dietary habits were closely related to dental caries among adolescents. Poor eating habits (higher sugary drink intake, lower vegetable intake, and skipping breakfast) in the developmental age may be a significant caries coefficient in adolescents. A longitudinal study with full consideration of baseline variables is warranted in the Chinese population.