Associations between caries experience, dietary habits, and metabolic syndrome in Japanese adults.

Dental caries could be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome (MetS); however, there is limited evidence of such a relationship in the literature. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationships among dental caries experience, dietary habits, and MetS in Japanese adults. A total of 937 participants aged 40-74 years underwent a health check, including dental examination. Decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) were used as an index of caries experience. The mean DMFT score was 14, and 12% of the participants had MetS in this study. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the prevalence of MetS was significantly related to DMFT (first vs. fourth quartile, odds ratio [OR] = 1.80; P < 0.05). In addition, the OR of DMFT for MetS was found to be greater in each successively higher DMFT quartile. The prevalence of MetS was significantly related to daily coffee consumption (OR = 0.51, P < 0.01), and the relationship between DMFT and MetS was noted after adjusting for daily coffee consumption. There appears to be a positive association between caries experience and MetS in Japanese adults. This relationship increased with the increase in DMFT regardless of dietary habits.

Association between eating behavior and poor glycemic control in Japanese adults.

This study investigated the relationship between eating behavior and poor glycemic control in 5,479 Japanese adults with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) <6.5% who participated in health checks. Respondents to a 2013 baseline survey of eating behavior, including skipping breakfast and how quickly they consumed food were followed up until 2017. We defined poor glycemic control after follow-up as HbA1c ≥6.5%, or increases in HbA1c of ≥0.5% and/or being under medication to control diabetes. We identified 109 (2.0%) respondents who met these criteria for poor glycemic control. After adjusting for sex, age, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), and eating behavior, the risk of poor glycemic control was increased in males (odds ratio [OR], 2.38; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.37-4.12; p < 0.01), and associated with being older (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.11; p < 0.001), having a higher BMI (OR, 1.29; 95% CI 1.23-1.35; p < 0.001), skipping breakfast ≥3 times/week (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.35-4.41; p < 0.01), and changing from eating slowly or at medium speed to eating quickly (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.04-4.26; p < 0.05). In conclusion, Japanese adults who were male, older, had a high BMI, skipped breakfast ≥3 times/week and ate quickly were at increased risk for poor glycemic control.

Correlation between ultrasound-diagnosed non-alcoholic fatty liver and periodontal condition in a cross-sectional study in Japan.

This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between periodontal condition and ultrasound-diagnosed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a Japanese oral health check population. A total of 1226 consecutive participant were enrolled in the study. Abdominal ultrasonography was applied to diagnose NAFLD. Of the study participants, 339 (27.7%) had ultrasonography-diagnosed NAFLD. The participants with NAFLD had a significantly higher prevalence of probing pocket depth (PPD) ≥ 4 mm (86.7%) than those without NAFLD (72.9%) (p < 0.05). After adjusting for gender, age, Brinkman index, regular exercise habits, body mass index, number of teeth present, presence of periodontitis, blood pressure, and serum parameters, there was a statistically significant difference in the adjusted odds ratios of having PPD ≥ 4 mm for NAFLD (Odds ratio = 1.881, 95% confidence interval 1.184-2.987, p < 0.01). Having PPD ≥ 4 mm may be a risk factor for ultrasound-diagnosed NAFLD in this cross-sectional study of a Japanese oral health check population.

[The relationship between dental caries of deciduous teeth and anxiety of mothers associated with child-care].

AIM: The incidence of caries in children is closely related to daily habits and may also be influenced markedly by a mother's attitude to child-care. For example, if a mother has a mental health problem such as child-care anxiety, this may prevent her obtaining advice on the daily health requirements of her children including the need to brush the teeth regularly. It is therefore important that mothers receive guidance in order to minimize the incidence of caries. This study examined the effect of child-care anxiety in mothers on the prevalence of caries in 3-year-old children. METHODS: The subjects were 503 pairs of mothers and their children who attended a check-up at a community health center in Gifu City when the children were aged 3-years. The mothers answered a questionnaire about child-care, while the children had a dental examination and caries activity test (Cariostat). The prevalence of caries and the Cariostat score were examined by binomial logistic regression analysis. The relationship between child-care anxiety of the mothers and children's caries or Cariostat score were analyzed using Covariance Analysis, that incorporated additional multiple indicator models including snack behavior, social-support and food faddism of the children. RESULTS: 1. The rate of caries disease increased with high Cariostat scores and was statistically significant at scores greater than 2.0. 2. Covariance analysis demonstrated both the models of children's caries and Cariostat score provided a good fit to the actual data, the former model having a GFI = 0.951 and RMSEA = 0.046, and the latter a GFI = 0.952 and RMSEA = 0.046. 3. It was found that anxiety over child-care directly affected snack behavior, while itself being influenced directly by both social-support and food fads of the children. 4. Snack behavior influenced Cariostat score, but not the prevalence of child caries. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest it is necessary to provide guidance to mothers with a background of child-care anxiety in order to prevent a high rate of caries in their children. It may be possible to detect mothers with child-care anxiety that leads to bad snack behavior by obtaining information on the child's social-support and food fads. Our study showed that offering social support was an effective means of preventing habits that may predispose to the development of dental caries. Furthermore, we found the Cariostat score was an effective test for assessing the influence of child-care on caries incidence.