Asociación entre la caries dental y la obesidad en adolescentes de 12 a 15 años vinculados al colegio público Vicente Azuero de Floridablanca

Abstract

Introduction: Dental caries is a chronic disease characterized by the demineralization of the tooth surface due to acids and bacterial interaction. On the other hand, obesity is the excessive increase in body mass that results in an increase in body weight associated with the high intake of highly caloric foods and low physical activity. These two pathologies are public health problems with high incidence in the population, which is why it is necessary to evaluate their association in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years, generating evidence of the current problems. Objective: To analyze the association of caries with obesity in adolescents aged 13 and 15 years linked public institution Vicente Azuero of the Floridablanca area. Methods: An analytical observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 267 adolescents linked to the Vicente Azuero Public School of Floridablanca, evaluating the sociodemographic variables, the number of decayed teeth, the body mass index, as well as the caries and its association with obesity. Caries was evaluated through visual clinical examination using ICDAS criteria and obesity with the body mass index. The statistical analysis was performed in the STATA 14.0 program. Results: 56.5% of the participants were women, the average age of the group was 14 years and most of the population belongs to stratum 3 (42.3) and 97% comes from the urban area of Bucaramanga. It was evidenced that schoolchildren with low weight presented on average 6 to 11.5 decayed teeth; Schoolchildren in normal weight presented between 7 to 15 decayed teeth and obese schoolchildren from 21 to 26 decayed teeth. In addition, adolescents with low weight presented ICDAS 3 caries frequency, those with normal weight had ICDAS 3 and 4 caries frequency, those who were overweight had a frequency of ICDAS 5 severity in 28.57% and the obese had frequency of ICDAS 6 in a 42.86%. Conclusions: In this study, a statistically significant association was found between caries and obesity in adolescents between 12 and 15 years old.