Chronic Malnutrition and Oral Health Status in Children Aged One to Five Years

Summary

Malnutrition is a public health problem that can exert a negative impact on the general and oral health of children. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of chronic malnutrition on the oral health of children aged one to five years. An observational, analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted at the Nutritional Recovery Center and involved 82 children between 12 and 71 months of age. Nutritional status was evaluated using anthropometric indicators and oral health status was measured using the dmft index. Non-stimulated saliva was collected. Flow rate and buffering capacity was then measured with the aid of a pH meter.

Conditions

• Malnutrition, Child

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Caries detection - dmtf index

Dental caries experience was recorded using the dmft index, which was employed following the recommendations of the WHO to establish the prevalence and severity of caries. Active visible white spots were also recorded. The examinations were performed in duplicate for each child with the aim of establishing inter-examiner agreement using the Kappa statistic which demonstrated good agreement (K = 0.81). The criteria adopted for the determination of prevalence followed by guidelines of the Oral Health Surveys - Basic Methods, 4th edition (WHO, 1997) described in the examiner's manual and annotator's manual produced by the coordination team of the Brazil Oral Health Project. The severity and prevalence of dental caries were determined based on the dmft index.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Saliva flow rate

Samples of non-stimulated saliva were collected from the participants for five minutes using two aspirator tubes connected to a 15-ml Falcon tube. One aspirator tube was positioned under the child's tongue and the other was attached to the aspirator device. After five minutes, the amount of saliva was measured for the determination of salivary flow. Collections were performed between 9 and 11 am and the time of the last meal was recorded. At least a one-hour interval was required between the last meal and the collection of the saliva sample. The volume of saliva was measured. The salivary flow volume was calculated and expressed as ml/min. The following categories were considered in the analysis of salivary flow: \< 0.1 ml/min = xerostomia; 0.1 to 0.6 ml/min = very low flow; 0.7 to 0.9 mL/min low flow; 1.0 to 2.0 ml/min = normal flow; and \> 2.0 ml/min = high flow.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Saliva Buffering Capacity

an aliquot of 1 ml was transferred to a test tube with 3 ml of hydrochloric acid (HCl 5 mM) for titration and the determination of salivary buffering capacity (SBC). The saliva/acid solution was shaken in a q 220 vortex tube agitator (Quimis, Diadema, SP, Brazil) for 15 seconds. Next, pH was determined in a portable pH meter (KASVI K39-0014P, Curitiba, PR, Brazil) for the determination of the SBC. The following categories were considered: ≥ 5.5 = very good buffering capacity; 5.4 to 5.0 = good buffering capacity; 4.9 to 4.5 = medium good buffering capacity; 4.4 to 4.0 = low buffering capacity; and ≤ 3.9 very low buffering capacity.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Nove de Julho

  lead OTHER

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Months

Max Age

71 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-02-02

Primary Completion

2017-04-27

Completion

2017-07-27

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations