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CC BY 4.0 · Eur J Dent 2022; 16(03): 557-563
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1735906
Original Article

Diet Implications and Oral Health Status of Women in Central Italy

Giulia Zumbo
1   Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
,
Micaela Costacurta
2   Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
,
Francesca Zara
1   Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
,
Nicola Pranno
1   Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
,
Margherita Ceravolo
1   Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
,
Francesco Covello
1   Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
,
Matteo Saccucci
1   Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
,
Iole Vozza 
1   Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Objective The relationships between oral health habits, dietary practices, and oral health status, as well as general health status, in the population of Italian women, are complex, with many mutual and interrelating factors. The purpose of this study is to investigate oral habits, oral status, and dietary habits of a sample of women in Italy, highlighting the links between nutrition and oral health and discussing how oral health care professionals can integrate nutrition counseling that aimed at improving the oral health of their patients into their practices.

Materials and Methods In the period between February 2020 and July 2020, an anonymous questionnaire made up of 20 questions was administered to a randomized sample of 120 Italian women.

Results Most of women declare good manual skills in oral hygiene (50%) but just less than half of them brushes their teeth more than three times a day. Statistically significant correlations were found between frequency of dental checkups and dental mobility (p = 0.036), and halitosis (p = 0.006), as well as between frequency of flossing and gum bleeding. Correlation between the type of diet and oral health status showed more halitosis (∼21%), sensitivity (∼26%), and xerostomia (∼53.3%) for vegetarian and vegan women.

Conclusion More awareness need to be raised concerning oral hygiene habits, and regarding the importance of regular dental checkups. Brushing at least twice or three times a day needs to be encouraged and the valid support of dental aids has to be in the everyday domestic oral hygiene protocol, as scientific evidence demonstrates. Future clinical studies need to be performed on a more consistent number of vegetarian and vegan patients, to obtain more statistically significant results and support future research that will compare omnivorous, vegetarian, and vegan diets and their influence on oral health status.

Keywords

oral hygiene - oral health - diet - oral habits - nutrition - omnivorous - vegetarian - vegan - women - Italy

Authors' Contributions

Study design: M.C. and M.C.; formal analysis: N.P.; collection of data: G.Z and F.Z.; writing of the manuscript: F.Z. and G.Z.; writing—review and editing: F.C. and M.S.; supervision: I.V. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.


Ethical Approval

The study protocol complied with the Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice, according to the Declaration of Helsinki (1975). The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of territorial NHS facilities (no. 3003/19).




Publication History

Article published online:
10 December 2021

© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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