Oral health status and performance of oral functions in children and adolescents in the treatment for overweight or obesity

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of oral functions and oral conditions in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity, investigating possible associations with treatment for weight reduction. Developing a cross-sectional research and quantitative approach with inductive and descriptive and critical analysis of data, such as from a range of 95%, the universe was represented by children and adolescents who were overweight or obese, in both sexes, treated at reference centers for the treatment of obesity by the National Health System, in Campina Grande, Paraíba, 2010-2012. As the control group considered subjects of the same age, in the process of screening for attention in the places listed, but without the condition of overweight or obese, the research was started after the approval by the Ethics Resarch Committee of the UEPB under the protocol number 0513.0.133.000-09. As instruments for data collection were used in the questionnaire and clinical examination, of the 70 surveyed, most were female, ranging in age from 3 to 17 years, overweight, without comorbidities and carriers of deleterious oral habits; especially the nail biting, significantly associated with female sex p < 0.05. Consistency was the preferred food paste and chewing quickly, unilaterally, without discomfort or gagging constant. There was a significant difference between the values of the DMFT index, the presence of visible biofilm and the frequency of halitosis, for groups with overweight or obesity, with association between time of treatment and medications.