association between dental caries, obesity and salivary alpha amylase in adolescent girls of babol city, iran-2017

Statement of the problem: adolescents are at risk of obesity and caries due to various factors such as diet and poor health habits; these factors may affect their body mass index (bmi) and salivary components. therefore, it is necessary to assess these factors and their relationship in this age group. purpose: this study aimed to evaluate the association between decayed missing filled teeth index (dmft), salivary alpha amylase (saa) level and age-specific bmi in adolescent girls. materials and method: a cross-sectional study was conducted on 81 females aged 13-15 years in 3 groups of bmi percentiles; “normal”, “at risk for overweight” and “overweight” (n=27). dmft was calculated and unstimulated saliva samples were collected. the saa level was measured with a spectrophotometer. data were analyzed using kolmogorov-smir-nov test, kruskal- wallis and spearman correlation tests using spss (version 23) at p< 0.05. results: the concentration of saa and mean dmft were estimated 1326.56±4.73 u/l and 2.77±2.36, respectively. there was no significant difference in saa level and mean dmft among bmi groups. a positive and significant correlation was found between saa and dmft in overweight group (r: 0.46, p= 0.014).conclusion: within the limitation of this study, higher levels of saa may be considered as an indicator for dental caries in overweight adolescent girls.