A Study of the Association between Iron Deficiency Anaemia and Dental Caries during Early Childhood

Abstract

Objective: To assess the association between iron deficiency anemia anddental caries in early childhood. Study design: In this cross-sectional study, 80 children with age ranging from 24 to 71 months were recruited from . Legal guardians of those children were interviewed to collect data about their social class, feeding patterns, oral hygiene practices and frequency of sweets intake. Full clinical examination was performed for all participants including anthropometric measurements. Caries experience was determined by the number of decayed, missing, and filled primary teeth (dmft). All of the 80 children were blood sampled for complete blood count and those with iron deficiency anaemia were tested for iron status. Results: A negative statistically significant correlation between dmft index and hemoglobin level (P<0.001) and MCH level (P=0.001) was detected, while a positive statistically significant correlation between dmft index and the presence of anemia was detected(P<0.001). Poor quality of diet and presence of anemia added significantly to the regression model predicting dmft index. Conclusions: A positive association was detected between iron deficiency anemia and early childhood caries.