Dietary and Oral Hygiene Habits in Children with Type I Diabetes Mellitus Related to Dental Caries

The aims of the study were to evaluate differences in dietary, oral hygiene habits and social class in children with Type I diabetes mellitus (DM), compared to non-diabetics, and to investigate relationship between selected caries-risk factors and caries experience in diabetics. Material and methods: 70 children with Type I DM and 70 age- and sex-matched non-diabetic controls were in-cluded in the study. Metabolic control of diabetes was categorized into well- to- moderately-con-trolled and poorly-controlled groups based on glycosylated haemoglobin HbA1c. The study was based on the data obtained from the questionnaire including information about dietary and oral hygiene habits, pattern of dental visits and social class. Results showed that the diabetic children had more frequent main meals and less snacking than their controls: the mean number of main meals/ day was 4.33 (SD = 0.93) in the diabetics, and 2.53 (SD = 0.85) in the controls. Significantly less diabetics (43%) used sweet drinks than their controls (79%). There were no differences according to the frequency of toothbrushing as well as frequency of dental visits between the diabetics and controls, however, significantly more diabetics reported that they never used dental floss than non-diabetics. There were no significant differences in the diet, toothbrushing frequency between the diabetics with different metabolic control. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that amon