Association of Diabetes and Dental Caries Among U.S. Adolescents in the NHANES Dataset.

Purpose: To investigate the association of diabetes and dental caries in U.S. adolescents in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Methods: NHANES 2005 to 2010 data represented 24.38 million U.S. adolescents. Outcome variables were dental-caries-experience and untreated dental decay. Analyses included descriptive statistics and logistic regressions. Multivariable models controlling for known common confounding variables using weighted estimates for odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Diabetes and prediabetes prevalence were 0.35 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. Subjects with increased blood glucose and HbA1C had significantly greater dental caries (78.9 percent versus 56.3 percent) and (83.2 percent versus 56.2 percent, P<0.001) when compared to those with normal values. Fully adjusted models revealed that diabetic adolescents were more than twice as likely to experience dental caries compared to nondiabetic adolescents (OR=2.43, CI=2.39 to 2.47). Similarly, diabetic individuals were more likely to have untreated dental decay than non-diabetics (OR=3.37, CI=3.32 to 3.42). Conclusion: Diabetic adolescents, compared to nondiabetics, had higher odds of dental caries experience and untreated dental decay after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, gender, body mass index, family income-to-poverty ratio, and country of birth. This study highlights the need for continued interprofessional collaboration to address oral health in prediabetic and diabetic adolescents.