OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between by body mass index (BMI) and caries incidence in a dental school pediatric clinic. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 250 pediatric dental records was performed for age, gender, height, weight, caries surfaces (cs) and decayed and filled surfaces (dfs). BMI and BMI percentile (using Centers for Disease Control pediatric BMI percentile classifications) were calculated. RESULTS: The mean age of the children was 7.03 years old. Age groups were 2-3 years (n=24, 9.6%), >3 to <6 years (n=77, 30.8%), 6-7 years (n=46, 18.4%), and over 7 years (n=103, 41.2%) of age. Based on BMI percentile classifications, 49.6% (n=124) were ‘normal weight', 20.4% were ‘at-risk-of-overweight' (n=51) and 25.2% were ‘overweight' (n=63); 9.6% (n=24) were ‘underweight'. Greater than 50% (58.3%) of the 2-3 year olds were ‘at-risk-of-overweight' or ‘overweight' followed by 49.4% of the >3 to <6year olds; 34.8% of the 6-7 year olds and 44.7% of those >7 years old. The majority (78.4%) had cs (mean cs =7.87, mean dfs =9.15). The >3 to <6 year olds had the highest mean dfs (mean=11.21) of the four age groups. Although not significant (independent samples t-test), children ‘at-risk-of-overweight‘or ‘overweight' had more cs (mean =8.19) and higher dfs scores (mean= 9.89) as compared to underweight or normal weight (mean cs =7.60, mean dfs =8.54) children. Race/ethnicity was not available. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of ‘at-risk-of-overweight' and ‘overweight' children in this pediatric dental clinic is greater than twice the U.S. average and is most prevalent in 2-6 year olds. Younger children had a higher BMI, cs and dfs then those 6 years and over. There was no significant relationship between BMI and cs or dfs for any age group. Additional research with a larger sample size is needed to further assess this relationship.

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