How Food Insecurity Impacts Children’s Oral Health Outcomes

Objectives: The objectives were to understand how food security status impacts children receiving dental care at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry (UIC COD) and to explore associations between food security status and a pediatric patient’s caries status. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to the legal guardians of children ages three to seventeen years during their dental examinations. The child’s caries status and tentative treatment plan were abstracted from their electronic dental records. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis (Chi-Square test) were performed using SPSS with a significance threshold set at P<0.05. Results: One Hundred and Twenty-Seven children with a mean age of 7.28 years (SD 3.11) at the time of their examination were recruited for the study. Sixty-three percent of children were female. Thirty-six percent of children identified as White, 24% Black, 4% Asian, 3% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 30% Other, and 2% Did Not Report. Fifty-eight percent identified as Hispanic or Latino. Three (2.4%) households reported experiencing marginal food security, 71 (55.9%) low food security, and 53 (41.7%) very low food security. According to the DMFT Scale – 25 patients (19.7%) had Low Severity DMFT (0-5), 62 (48.8%) had Moderate Severity DMFT (6-10), 31 (24.4%) had High Severity DMFT (11-15) and 9 (7.1%) had Extreme Severity DMFT (16+). The Chi-square analysis revealed no significant association between the food security status and DMFT scores (P=0.453). Conclusion: With no significant association present, research has shown a potential mechanism linking food insecurity and tooth decay due to dietary behaviors.