Journal of Dental Research, Vol 69, 1564-1566, Copyright © 1990 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
The effect of nutritional status on the age distribution of dental caries in the primary teeth
J. O. Alvarez, J. C. Eguren, J. Caceda and J. M. Navia
Department of Public Health, University of Alabama, Birmingham 35294.
A cross-sectional study of dental caries in the primary teeth as a function
of nutritional status was conducted on 1481 children one to 13 years old in
Lima, Peru. Forty-one percent of the children were found to be chronically
malnourished (stunted), 3% were acutely malnourished (wasted), and 5% were
both stunted and wasted. A plot of decayed, extracted, and filled teeth
(deft) vs. age resulted in a bell-shaped curve that was shifted to the
right by 2.5 years for malnourished groups, compared with normal children
(p less than 0.01). The shift to the right of the age distribution of
caries was associated with a delay in both the eruption and exfoliation of
the primary teeth in malnourished children. Peak caries activity was
significantly higher in wasted and in stunted and wasted children, when
compared with normal controls. It is concluded that malnutrition delayed
tooth development, affected the age distribution of dental caries, and
resulted in increased caries experience in the primary teeth.
