Association between obesity and traumatic dental injuries in pre-school children-A case-control study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Obese children are more prone to accidents due to poorer motor skills which increase the likelihood of falls and the occurrence of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs). The aim of this study was to determine the association between overweight/obesity and TDI in pre-school children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The case group was formed by children with TDI identified during a clinical examination (n = 262). Each pre-school child identified as a case was matched by a peer of the same age, gender and pre-school but without TDI to form the control group (n = 262). TDI was evaluated using the criteria proposed by Andreasen. The weight and height of the children were measured for the calculation of the body mass index which was plotted on the growth curve established by the World Health Organization. Socio-demographic variables were collected through questionnaires sent to the parents/guardians. Data analysis involved the determination of frequency distribution, the chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The sample was composed of 253 children in each group. Among the children in the case group, 15.4% (n = 39) were overweight and 15.8% (n = 40) were obese. In the control group, 13.8% (n = 35) were overweight and 8.3% (n = 21) were obese. Children with trauma were more likely to be obese than children without trauma (OR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.14 to 3.67; p = .016). In contrast, TDI was not associated with being overweight. A greater odds of TDI was also associated with an open bite (OR = 3.61; 95% CI: 1.64 to 7.96; p = .001) and accentuated overjet (OR = 2.19; 95% CI: 1.37 to 3.50; p = .001). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-school children with a history of dental trauma were more likely to be obese than those without a history of dental trauma whereas being overweight was not associated with TDI.

The preparation of benzyl esters using stoichiometric niobium (V) chloride versus niobium grafted SiO2 catalyst: A comparison study.

Two solvent free methods of a one-to-one alcohol/acid mol ratio synthesis of benzyl esters of the formic, acetic, benzoic, salicylic, nicotinic, and oxalic acids are described. The stoichiometric reactions used 1.5 mol ratio solid NbCl5 as the reagent and required from two to three hours for completion at room temperature; for the catalytic processes, NbCl5 was grafted directly, at room temperature, onto a silica gel of specific area of 507 m2g-1, produced from construction sand and sodium carbonate, forming a 5.4% Nb w/w SiO2-Nb gel with a specific area of 412 m2g-1. At 10% w/w catalyst/alcohol ratio, this SiO2-Nb catalyst gave similarly very good yields but required from 6 to 9 hours at the reflux temperature of the slurry. The catalyst could be re-used three times.