Aperito Journal of Oral Health and Dentistry Received: Apr 24, 2015 Accepted: May 04, 2015 Published: May 07, 2015 Vesna Ambarkova 1* and Bakračevska Gracija 2 1 Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, University St. Cyril and Methodius, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia 2 DDS, PHO Health Center-Ohrid Introduction Obesity and dental caries are both multifactorial diseases that impact children’s health and psychosocial development. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the need to adopt a unified approach for the - promotion of general and oral health instead of the previous single-level strategies [1]. Recent national data from Sweden [2] suggest a positive correlation between dental caries and Body Mass Index (BMI), and showed that obesogenic behavior such http://dx.doi.org/10.14437/AJOHD-1-113 Research Vesna Ambarkova, Aperito J Oral Health Dent 2015, 1:3 Relating Dental Caries Experience with Body Mass Index among Primary School Children from Ohrid City – A Pilot Study Abstract Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and mean DMFT score of 12 year old school children in Ohrid city. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed school children aged 12 years with measurement of the DMFT (Decayed, Missed, and Filled Teeth) dental indexes and BMI (Body-Mass Indexes) analyzed during four months period in 2014 year. Anthropometric measurements: the height and weight of the participants were determined according to standard criteria. Depending on their nutritional status, the subjects were categorized, as being ‘normal weight,’ "at risk of overweight" and "overweight". Results: In the group of 102 12-year-old children, 55 children were with normal weight, 25 children were at risk of overweight and 22 overweight children. The majority of the children were having normal weight (BMI < 20.50) with 21.57% classified as overweight (BMI 24.35−34.53) and 25.49% at risk of overweight obese (BMI 20.50- 24.35). The mean DMFT score of the 12 year old children from city Ohrid was 2.25±2.17. The mean DMFT score between the children with normal weight was 2.53±2.27, between the overweight children was 2.32±2.46 and while between the children at risk of overweight was 1.6±1.55. The children with normal weight had highest DMFT score. The difference between the average DMFT scores between the children with normal weight and the overweight children was not statistically significant. Children at risk of overweight were with lowest DMFT score. Conclusion: Being overweight was found to be negatively associated with mean DMFT in primary school children from Ohrid city. * Corresponding Author: Vesna Ambarkova, Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, University St. Cyril and Methodius, Vodnjanska 17 University Dental Clinic Center Sv.Pantelejmon Skopje 1000, Republic of Macedonia; Tel ++38970686333; E- mail: ambveki@yahoo.com Keywords: Body Mass Index; Dental Caries; School Children Copyright: © 2015 AJOHD. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, Version 3.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Volume 1 • Issue 3 • 113 www.aperito.org