Evaluation of nutritional status in a group of children with early childhood caries

Introduction: Many scientific studies from the literature evaluate the general development of the child with early childhood caries (ECC). The results of these studies may vary, between the lack of association of this disease with alterations of general parameters of growth and the presence of significant modifications of these parameters. Aims: Evaluation of growth and general development (nutritional status) in children with ECC recruited from the Department of Paediatric Dentistry of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila Bucharest in comparing with healthy children from preschools. Material and method: The both study groups were equal, with 200 children each (100 girls and 100 boys). The median age was 45.16 months in the study group and 54.75 months in the witness group. We evaluated the general growth parameters in the both groups by measuring the weight and the height. Results: In both groups the results show two thirds of children having a normal general development. In children with affected growth parameters, we could observe that the underweight predominates in more than haft children with ECC. Unlike this situation, among the healthy children from the witness group, the predominated growth disorder is overweight. More than two thirds underweight children with ECC showed a ponderal deficiency between 10 and 25%. Conclusions: The growing prevalence of ECC, together with her negative consequences, represents an important matter of general and oral health, because this affection produces alterations of growth and development in more than two thirds investigated children with ECC. Keywords: early childhood caries ECC, nutritional status, ponderal deficiency