Evidences of the relationship between the indicators of the body mass index and caries according to the data of systematic reviews

Abstract

The article represents results of systematic reviews processing regarding existence of potential relationships between body mass index indicators and caries among patients of different age groups, and outcomes of quality evaluation of evidences regarding this issue. Results of systematic reviews available for analysis allowed to summarize that the relationship between indicators of body mass index and indicators of caries prevalence or intensity is complex, non-linear by its nature and depending on the influence of many moderating factors that can provoke variations within the structure of interaction. Data extracted from systematic reviews indicate, that despite the potential existence of specific correlations between BMI and caries prevalence/intensity, unambiguous categorization of these in terms of significance and direction is currently limited based on the quality of available evidence. According to the data of systematic reviews, significant differences in caries intensity indicators in samples of children with high and average values of the body mass index can potentially be noted during early age period, as well as during the period of deciduous dentition. At the same time, in a number of scientific works, no associations were identified between different categories of body mass index and caries intensity and/or prevalence indicators, which would allow to statistically argument the influence of obesity as a risk factor for the development of caries pathology. Significant variations in the relationships between body mass index indicators and caries in patients of different age groups, noted in previous studies, may be caused by the influence of the following factors: use of different approaches for assessing the impact of obesity (indicators of caries prevalence differences, relative risk, mean differences); differences in the structure of the studied samples; differences in approaches used for research samples formation; use of different origins data (primary and secondary); implementation of research within different conditions; application of various clinical examination methods, diagnostic criteria and approaches for classification; implementation of various methods for statistical processing of the data.