Integrating Dietary Questions into Caries Risk Assessment: Links to Caries Development

This investigation reviewed clinical records to determine how dietary items included in caries risk evaluations correspond with the need for restorative care in a dental school environment. A dataset of 6,218 adults who attended the University of Iowa College of Dentistry between 2018 and 2019 was analyzed. Each patient had completed both a caries risk questionnaire and a full-mouth examination. Planned caries restorations were contrasted according to responses to selected dietary questions. Statistical approaches involved chi-square testing, Wilcoxon rank-sum comparisons, and logistic regression to identify significant predictors.
Approximately 20% of participants required restorative intervention for caries. Younger age, irregular eating patterns, daily intake of sugar-containing drinks, and sipping those beverages for longer than 30 minutes all showed significant associations (p < 0.01) with restorative treatment needs. Focused dietary questioning appears to be strongly related to the likelihood of dental caries and may enhance the predictive value of caries risk assessments.