Hábitos alimenticios, hábitos odontológicos y caries dental en estudiantes de odontología y arquitectura de la Universidad de Los Andes

Abstract

Dental caries is a multifactorial, infectious disease in which the host, oral microflora and diet are involved; being the carbohydrates the most cariogenic food. The objective of this study was to compare nutritional habits, dental habits and presence of dental caries in students of the schools of Architecture and Dentistry of the Universidad de Los Andes. For this matter, a transectional study was designed, a multiple choice questions survey about nutritional and dental habits was applied as well as a clinical examination to determine the index of dental caries (CPOD) on 57 students of Architecture and 56 students of Dentistry, chosen at random. The results were analyzed by comparison of averages and chi-squares, obtaining CPOD indexes of 4,43±3,44 in Architecture and 4,80±4,05 in Dentistry. The most consumed carbohydrates were pasta, bread and candies; related to CPOD indexes in Architecture, not finding any relation between the consumption of pasta and CPOD in Dentistry. No significant differences were found when comparing the indexes of caries and dental habits of the groups involved. Despite the groups were uniform, the presence of better dental habits in Dentistry students could be attached to the knowledge and motivation acquired on their careers.