• Esam Dhaifullah, Sadeq Ali Al-Maweri, Pradeep Koppolu, Essam Elkhtat, Diana Mostafa, and Muna Mahgoub.
• Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, Alfarabi College, Riyadh Saudi Arabia.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2019 Nov 1; 39 (6): 433-440.

BackgroundObesity has been suggested as a risk factor for periodontal disease. Despite the high prevalence of obesity and over-weight among Saudi population, no study has assessed whether there is an association between periodontal health status and body mass index (BMI).ObjectivesAssess the association between BMI and other variables with periodontal health status among young Saudi adults.DesignAnalytical, hospital-based cross-sectional study.SettingUniversity dental hospital, Riyadh.Patients And MethodsAll dental students aged 21-35 years who met inclusion criteria were invited to participate in the study. Periodontal health status was assessed by the plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI) and community periodontal index (CPI) scores. Biometric measurements included weight, height and BMI. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the association of independent variables with periodontal disease (CPI>2 vs CPI ≤2) and multiple linear regression models to assess associations with PI and GI.Main Outcome MeasuresPeriodontal health by BMI and other variables.Sample Size308.ResultsOf 700 participants invited, 380 participated for a response rate of 54.2%. Slightly more than half of the obese subjects 54 (52%) did not brush their teeth regularly. The mean (standard deviation) PI and GI scores were significantly higher among the obese (PI score: 1.54 [0.45]); GI score: 1.52 [0.51]) and overweight (PI score: 1.36 [0.47]) and (GI score: 1.42 [0.57]) subjects when compared with subjects with normal weight (PI score: 1.27 [0.51]); (GI score: 1.31 [0.48]); ( P<.05). No significant differences were seen between BMI groups in CPI scores. There were also no significant differences in the mean number and percentage of sextants between different BMI groups. The only signficant factor for periodontal disease in the multivariable analysis was toothbrushing.ConclusionThe present study shows a significant positive correlation between BMI and PI and GI scores. However, no statistically significant association was found between BMI and periodontal health status.LimitationCross-sectional, so not possible to assess the association of oral health and BMI over time.Conflict Of InterestNone.

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