Oral symptoms experienced by adolescents based on Body Mass Index

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the oral symptoms experienced by adolescents according to Body Mass Index. We analyzed the data using the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey and conducted complex-sample descriptive statistics on 55,728 participants. The prevalence of sensitive teeth, tooth pain, gingival bleeding, and swelling was highest in the overweight group (36.8%, 23.9%, and 19.2%) and lowest in the underweight group (34.6%, 20.8%, and 17.0%) (p<0.001). Tooth pain, gingival bleeding, and swelling were significantly higher (all 1.08) in the overweight group than in the normal group. Halitosis was 1.19-and 1.43-higher in the overweight and obese groups, respectively. The relationship between systemic diseases and oral health among adolescents should be further investigated.