Abstract

Early Childhood Caries (ECC), which is a chronic, irreversible, multifactorial and infectious disease, is one of the most common diseases seen in children. Oral health plays an important role in general health and welfare of young children in early childhood. Recently, the relationship between childhood caries and childhood obesity has been investigated. Current evidence suggests that severe caries is associated with malnutrition and may be expressed as deviation from mean Body Mass Index (BMI) values. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the relationship between BMI and ECC with various and sometimes conflicting results. Some studies on this issue have associated ECC with low weight children, suggesting that low BMIs may be a result of ECC. On the other hand, some studies have established significant relationships between ECC and overweight, and concluded that the two results may be based on common risk factors. In order to establish a healthy society in terms of oral health, prevention of disease should be the main objective rather than fighting diseases. Combating obesity also means combating many diseases. Therefore, early prevention of the effects of chronic diseases such as obesity, tooth decay and gingivitis on the rest of the child's life will be an important step in terms of improving the general health of the society.