Determination of the influence of body mass percentile on mandibular canine calcification stages among 5-17 years old Northern Nigerian children

Dental calcification is a biological phenomenon used to estimate the maturation status of growing children. The effect of body mass index percentile (BMI-percentile) on this process appears contentious among researchers. To determine the predictive effect of body mass percentile on mandibular canine calcification. A prospective descriptive cross-sectional study. This was a prospective cross sectional descriptive study comprising of eighty four participants (5-17 years) who visited the Child Health Dental Clinic of Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nigeria between January and September, 2021. Mandibular canine calcifications of the study participants were staged using the Demirjian method while the World Health Organisation growth chart specific for age and gender was used to classify the BMI-percentile. The effect of BMI-percentile on the mandibular canine calcifications was determined using multinomial logistic regression. Chronological age had a significant predictive effect on the mandibular canine calcification (P=0.002) as against gender and BMI-percentile. A one-percentile increase in the BMI-percentile increases the likelihood of healthy children of having to present in stage D by 3.454 compared to obese children, but this effect was not statistically significant (P= 1.000). Obese children have a tendency of having advanced mandibular canine calcification than healthy children. Female participants were likely to be in advanced mandibular canine calcification stage. Early intervention is therefore suggested for obese children

ESTIMATION OF THE PREDICTIVE EFFECT OF BODY MASS INDEX-PERCENTILE ON SKELETAL MATURATION IN A NIGERIAN POPULATION.: Body mass percentile and skeletal maturation

Objectives: To determine the predicting the effect of BMI-index percentile on the skeletal maturation of Nigerian children.  Design: A prospective cross-sectional study. Setting: This study was conducted in a tertiary health care facility in North-Central Nigeria. Participants: Children between the ages of 5-17 years consisting of 44 males and 30 females that presented in the Child Dental clinic over a period of eight months were recruited for the study. Main outcome measured: Skeletal maturation was assessed using the middle phalanx of the third finger (MP3) while the standard WHO growth chart specific for age (2-20 years) and gender was used for grading BMI-percentile. The unpaired t-test was used to compare mean chronological age of the stages of MP3 according to gender. Multinomial logistic regression used to determine the predictive effect of age, gender and BMI percentile on pubertal growth spurt. Results: The BMI-percentile had weak correlation with the pubertal growth spurt (r=0.089, p=0.448). Gender (p=0.004) and chronological age had significant (p<0.001) predictive effect on the skeletal maturation. A one-percentile increase in the BMI-percentile decreases the likelihood of healthy children to be in the peak-pubertal by 1.504 when compared to obese children (p=0.305).  Conclusions: This study showed that BMI-percentile is a weak predictor of skeletal maturation. However, obese children had a tendency towards advanced skeletal maturation than healthy participants. It is therefore suggested that orthodontists should consider early implementation of jaw modification treatments among obese children.&nbsp