Nutritional status, tooth wear and quality of life in Brazilian schoolchildren.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation among nutritional status, tooth wear and quality of life in Brazilian schoolchildren. DESIGN: The study followed a cross-sectional design. Nutritional status was measured via anthropometry using BMI and tooth wear was measured using the Dental Wear Index; both these assessments were carried out by a trained recorder according to standard criteria. A modified version of the Child Oral Impacts on Daily Performances was used to assess quality of life. SETTING: City of Bauru, in Brazil. SUBJECTS: A cluster sample of 396 schoolchildren (194 boys and 202 girls) aged 7-10 years. RESULTS: The anthropometric assessment showed similar situations for both sexes regarding underweight (31.40 % in boys and 30.20 % in girls) and overweight/obesity (33.96 % in boys and 33.17 % in girls). The underweight children showed a greater severity of tooth wear in the primary teeth (OR=0.72; CI 0.36, 1.42), although in the permanent dentition the obese children had a greater severity of tooth wear (OR=1.42; 95 % CI 0.31, 6.55). The tooth wear was correlated with age for both dentitions. CONCLUSIONS: Tooth wear in the primary and permanent dentition may be related to nutritional status. Tooth wear and obesity did not have a significant impact on the schoolchildren's perception of quality of life.