School dietary habits and incidence of dental caries

Introduction: healthy dietary habits are considered to improve oral health and tooth quality. Caries treatment comprises tooth restoration with dental composites and sealants, almost all (>90%) of which contain bisphenol A (BPA). Study hypotheses were: a) breakfast and oral hygiene habits are important factors in dental caries development; and b) dental caries treatment with epoxy-resins entails a risk of oral exposure to monomers migrating from the polymeric material. We evaluated caries in the teeth of a Spanish school population and determined the percentage treated with dental composites. Objective: to relate consumption of breakfast components and oral hygiene habits to dental caries and determine the presence of sealants/composites as potential sources of BPA exposure. Methods: subjects: 582 schoolchildren from Granada city (Southern Spain) aged 7 yrs; mean (SD) of 7.55 (0.64) yrs. Results: caries was detected in 21.7% of their teeth. Mean breakfast quality index (BQI) score, based on nutritional questionnaires, was 5.18 (1.29). Breakfast with foods rich in simple sugars representing > 5% of total daily energy was consumed by 24% of the population and was significantly associated with caries frequency in binary logistic regression analysis. Biscuit consumption was reported by 35.8% and significantly associated with caries frequency. Breakfast intake of bakery products/cereals and of dairy products showed a significant inverse association with caries frequency. No significant relationship was observed between caries and BQI score or oral hygiene factors. Conclusion: further research is required to elucidate the role of diet in caries and the associated risk of exposure to estrogenic xenobiotics such as BPA.