Impact of Eating Habits and Lifestyle on the Oral Health Status of a Casablanca’s Academic Population

Abstract

Introduction: Bad eating habits can have serious impact on oral health. Objectives: To study the impact of eating habits and dental hygiene practices on the dental status of students. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 400 students aged 17 and more, from the Ben M’Sik Sciences Faculty. A questionnaire on the socio-economic level of the parents, the eating habits, the means of hygiene and the oral health status has been filled in anonymously by the respondents. Univariate and multivariate descriptive and comparative analyzes were performed by the software SPSS 21. Results: The population’s average age is 20 ± 1.59 years old consisted of 55% of boys and 45% of girls. The breakfast is consumed by 67% of students. 39.58% respondents consume sweetened drinks during the meals and 60% at the end of meals and 66% are snacking during the day. 92% of students say they brush their teeth. The brushing time varies between 1 and 3 minutes. 37% of students do never consult a dentist and 63% in case of dental problems. The prevalence of caries is 66%. There is a positive association between the prevalence of tooth decay and certain eating habits (sweet things consumption (p = 0.08), cakes (p = 0.018) and chocolate (p = 0.019) outside of meals). However, this correlation is negative, when the consumption of these foods is done during meals (p > 0.74). On the other hand, there was no correlation between alcohol consumption and presence of caries (p = 0.172), tobacco consumption (p = 0.319), and socioeconomic status parents (p = 0.733). Conclusion: Oral hygiene and regular monitoring by a dentist with healthy eating habits can have a significant impact on the oral status of students.