Oral health and multimorbidity: is diet the chicken or the egg?

Oral health is a critical component of overall health and well-being, not just the absence of disease. The objective of this review paper is to describe relationships among diet, nutrition and oral and systemic diseases that contribute to multimorbidity. Diet- and nutrient-related risk factors for oral diseases include high intakes of free sugars, low intakes of fruits and vegetables and nutrient-poor diets which are similar to diet- and nutrient-related risk factors for systemic diseases.

Food insecurity is associated with lower diet quality among dental students.

Purpose: Food insecurity is associated with lower diet quality, adverse health outcomes, and academic difficulty among undergraduate students. The objective was to identify the relationship between food security status and diet quality in dental students.

Methods: All dental students attending Howard University (n = 286) or the University of Iowa (n = 326) during the fall 2021 semester were invited to complete a cross-sectional survey designed to query demographics, food security status (i.

Food insecurity and consumption of cariogenic foods in mothers and their two-year-old children in Appalachia.

Objectives: To describe the association between household food insecurity and intake of cariogenic foods that increase risk of dental caries.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 842 mothers in Appalachia and their children participating in the Center for Oral Health Research Cohort 2 between 2011 and 2017 when their children were ~ 24 months of age. Mothers completed a telephone interview regarding cariogenic food consumption and food insecurity.

Early Childhood Diet in Relation to Toddler Nighttime Sleep Duration Trajectories.

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether dietary habits at age 2 associate with sleep duration trajectories through age 5 in children from north and central Appalachia. A total of 559 children from the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA) cohort 2 were followed via caregiver phone interviews up to six times between ages 2 and 5. Exposures included data from the year 2 interview: sleep habits, household and demographic characteristics, meal patterns and consumption frequencies of fruits, vegetables, water, juice, milk, and soda.

Weak Evidence Suggests Vegetarian Diets May Be Associated With an Increased Risk of Dental Erosion.

Article Title And Bibliographic Information: Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. Smits KPJ, Listl S, Jevdjevic M.

Associations between body mass index and body composition measures in a birth cohort.

Background: Associations among body composition measures have been limited to cross-sectional analyses of different subjects. We identified cross-sectional relationships between body mass index (BMI) and other body composition measures and predicted body composition measures from BMI throughout childhood and adolescence.

Methods: BMI was calculated and % body fat (%BF), fat mass index (FMI), and fat-free mass index (FFMI) were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at ages 5, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17 years in a birth cohort (n = 629).

Is food insecurity a barrier to dental student success?

Purpose: The prevalence of food insecurity among undergraduate students is higher than the national average and associated with adverse academic outcomes. Our objective was to describe the prevalence of food insecurity, food access behaviors, and associations between food security status and well-being in a dental student population.

Methods: All dental students (N = 328) enrolled in the College of Dentistry at the University of Iowa in the fall 2019 semester were invited to participate.

Beverage Intakes and Toothbrushing During Childhood Are Associated With Caries at Age 17 Years.

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) have been associated with childhood caries; however, associations among lifelong beverage intakes and adolescent caries have received less attention.

Objective: To investigate associations between beverage intakes during childhood and adolescence and caries experience at 17 years of age, while adjusting for fluoride intakes and toothbrushing.

Design: Descriptive model analyses were conducted on data collected from a longitudinal birth cohort study.

Identification of and Associations among Low, Middle, and High Body Composition Trajectories from Age 5- to 17-Years.

Our objective was to identify sex-specific age 5- to 17-year body composition (body mass index (BMI), % body fat, fat mass index, fat-free mass index) trajectories, compare trajectories assigned using age 5 (AGE5) data to those assigned using all available (ALL) data, and compare BMI assignments to other body composition assignments. Cluster analysis was used to identify low, medium, and high trajectories from body composition measures obtained from dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans at 5, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17 years in a birth cohort followed longitudinally ( = 469). Moderate agreement was observed for comparisons between AGE5 data and ALL data cluster assignments for each body composition measure.

Dietary patterns associated with dental caries in adults in the United States.

Objectives: Dental caries experience, which affects 91% of US adults, is a consequence of a carious process influenced by diet. Although individual foods have been implicated, we hypothesized that dietary patterns might be important predictors of caries presence.

Methods: We analysed data from 4467 people ≥18 years old participating in the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative sample of the US population.

Dietary Implications for Dental Caries: A Practical Approach on Dietary Counseling.

Acid produced during bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates dissolves tooth structure, leading to dental caries. Carbohydrates are a nutrient within foods, individual foods contain multitudinous differing nutrients in varying concentrations, and, ultimately, food choices and eating behaviors are associated with the caries process. Consideration of food choices and eating behaviors is necessary for effective caries prevention.

Child and Adolescent Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intakes Are Longitudinally Associated with Higher Body Mass Index z Scores in a Birth Cohort Followed 17 Years.

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are considered a risk factor for obesity.

Objective: The objective of the current study was to investigate associations between the predictors of beverage and energy intakes and mean adequacy ratios (MARs), and the outcome of body mass index (BMI) z scores, in a birth cohort using longitudinal models.

Design: This was a longitudinal analysis of secondary data.

Dental Educators' Perceptions of Educational Learning Domains.

The aim of this study was to seek the views of a national sample of dental educators regarding the importance of learning domains in dental education, their defined outcomes of those domains, and their perceived effectiveness of their schools in guiding learning in those domains. The study defined the educational domains important for training future dentists as knowledge, technical skills, critical thinking, ethics, social responsibility, and interprofessional education/practice (IPE/IPP). A survey of members of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Special Interest Group on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning was conducted in 2017.

Associations of fluoride intake with children's cortical bone mineral and strength measures at age 11.

Objectives: There is strong affinity between fluoride and calcium, and mineralized tissues. Investigations of fluoride and bone health during childhood and adolescence show inconsistent results. This analysis assessed associations between period-specific and cumulative fluoride intakes from birth to age 11, and age 11 cortical bone measures obtained using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) of the radius and tibia (n = 424).

Description of Child and Adolescent Beverage and Anthropometric Measures According to Adolescent Beverage Patterns.

Our objective is to retrospectively describe longitudinal beverage intakes and anthropometric measures according to adolescent beverage patterns. Data were collected from Iowa Fluoride Study participants ( = 369) using beverage questionnaires at ages 2⁻17 years. Weight and height were measured at ages 5, 9, 13 and 17 years.

Higher Longitudinal Milk Intakes Are Associated with Increased Height in a Birth Cohort Followed for 17 Years.

Background: Height is an indicator of nutritional status; linear growth faltering has recognized consequences for cognitive, emotional, and chronic disease risk. Although height is routinely studied in developing countries, less attention is given to height in the United States.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify longitudinal associations between childhood and adolescent beverage intakes, nutrient adequacy, or energy intake and height in a birth cohort.

Longitudinal associations between dental caries increment and risk factors in late childhood and adolescence.

Objectives: To assess longitudinal associations between permanent tooth caries increment and both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, using best subsets model selection.

Methods: The Iowa Fluoride Study has followed a birth cohort with standardized caries exams without radiographs of the permanent dentition conducted at about ages 9, 13, and 17 years. Questionnaires were sent semi-annually to assess fluoride exposures and intakes, select food and beverage intakes, and tooth brushing frequency.

Dietary assessment and counseling for dental erosion.

Background And Overview: Dental erosion occurs after exposure to intrinsic or extrinsic acids. Exposure to intrinsic gastrointestinal acids is associated with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, rumination syndrome, or gastroesophageal reflux. Extrinsic dietary acids from foods or beverages also can cause erosion, particularly when exposure is prolonged by holding or swishing behaviors.

Critical Thinking Theory to Practice: Using the Expert's Thought Process as Guide for Learning and Assessment.

Critical thinking skills are essential for the successful dentist, yet few explicit skillsets in critical thinking have been developed and published in peer-reviewed literature. The aims of this article are to 1) offer an assessable critical thinking teaching model with the expert's thought process as the outcome, learning guide, and assessment instrument and 2) offer three critical thinking skillsets following this model: for geriatric risk assessment, technology decision making, and situation analysis/reflections. For the objective component, the student demonstrates delivery of each step in the thought process.

Dental caries clusters among adolescents.

Objectives: There have been very few longitudinal studies of dental caries in adolescents, and little study of the caries risk factors in this age group. The purpose of this study was to describe different caries trajectories and associated risk factors among members of the Iowa Fluoride Study (IFS) cohort.

Methods: The IFS recruited a birth cohort from 1992 to 1995, and has gathered dietary, fluoride and behavioural data at least twice yearly since recruitment.

Beverage Consumption Patterns at Age 13 to 17 Years Are Associated with Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index at Age 17 Years.

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) have been associated with obesity in children and adults; however, associations between beverage patterns and obesity are not understood.

Objective: Our aim was to describe beverage patterns during adolescence and associations between adolescent beverage patterns and anthropometric measures at age 17 years.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional analyses of longitudinally collected data.

Factors associated with dental caries in a group of American Indian children at age 36 months.

Objectives: Early childhood caries (ECC) is rampant among American Indian children, but there has been relatively little study of this problem. This article reports on risk factors for caries for a group of American Indian children at age 36 months as part of a longitudinal study.

Methods: Pregnant women from a Northern Plains Tribal community were recruited to participate in a longitudinal study of caries and caries risk factors.

Genotypic characterization of initial acquisition of Streptococcus mutans in American Indian children.

Background: Severe-early childhood caries (S-ECC) is one of the most common infectious diseases in children and is prevalent in lower socio-economic populations. American Indian children suffer from the highest levels of S-ECC in the United States. Members of the mutans streptococci, Streptococcus mutans, in particular, are key etiologic agents in the development of caries.

Nomenclature, characteristics, and dietary intakes of sugars.

Background And Overview: The World Health Organization has recommended a reduction in free sugars intake throughout one's life span to decrease the burden of noncommunicable diseases, including caries and obesity. The author defines sugars' nomenclature, describes sugars' roles in food, and identifies current sugars intake.

Conclusions: The oral health care practitioner can identify added sugars intake and provide guidance to patients to decrease their intake of added sugars while improving nutrient intake and reducing caries risk.