23rd American World Dentistry Congress

Nutrition is a basic human need and adequate wholesome diet is essential for the proper growth and development of the human body. Prolonged nutritional deficits lead to chronic malnutrition in children. Malnutrition, with its two constituents of protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, continues to be a major health burden in developing countries, especially in Asia and Africa. PEM, while generally considered a health problem in developing countries, is not rare in developed countries. According to the reports by the United Nations in 2008, around 923 million people worldwide are suffering from malnutrition. Malnutrition has severe effects on the growth and differentiation of different tissues. Even oral tissues, including the teeth, are very sensitive to the changes in the nutritional supply at these particular developing stages, thus increasing the ill effects on the oral structures. The present study seeks to bring out the association of early childhood malnutrition with dental caries and altered eruption timing as a potential explanatory variable in the relationship between PEM and dental caries. The data was collected on the basis of the examination conducted on 200 children under 5 years of age with protein-energy malnutrition in rural areas of Udaipur district. The nutritional status assessment was done by a Pediatrician looking for the signs of malnutrition: eye, pitting oedema and appearance. Anthropometric measures were taken according to WHO criteria. These measurements included: upper arm circumference, weight, age and length/height of the child. This data was converted into weight for age, height for age, weight for height and arm circumference for age and compared with the WHO standard charts for protein-energy malnutrition patients. Blood samples were collected from each child to determine total protein level, serum albumin, and serum globulin levels after obtaining the consent from the parents. Questionnaires detailing information on child-related factors like age at commencement of weaning, immunization coverage and a number of diarrhoea episodes, etc. were administered. The oral health status of these children was assessed according to the WHO - Oral Health Survey Protocol. Assessment for the following was carried out: Caries and delayed eruption. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Chi-square test, Students t-test, and Pearsons correlation were employed. The result showed that the majority of the study population was in <-3 SD and below, which signifies a severe form of malnutrition. Caries was found in very few children, only 10% of the study population showed carious teeth. The delayed eruption was found in a large number of children that constituted almost 45%

of the study population