Interrelationship between sugar and dental caries--a study in child population of Orissa.

ABSTRACT

An epidemiological study on interrelationship between dental caries and sugar consumption conducted on 1265 children in the age of 5-15 years revealed a positive association of dental caries experience with total sugar exposures, between meal sugar exposures and at meal sugar exposures. As the total increased from 3 to 4 in a day, a corresponding jump of 1 deft+DMFT and 2 defs+DMFS was noted, which was clinically and statistically significant. It was deduced that total sugar exposures per day should be limited to 3, out of which two should be at meal time and one between meals.