Correlation between Dental Caries, Dental Plaque, Gingival Diseases and Vitamin. B12 level in serum in 10-13-years old Children: A Cross-sectional Study

Section: Research Paper
Issue
Vol. 26 No. 1 (2026): Volume 26 Issue 1
Pages
132-148

Keywords:

Dental caries, Gingival diseases, Healthy children, Oral health, Vitamin B12

Abstract

Aims: The present study aimed to assess the value of vitamin B12 blood levels in children and their effect on the general health of teeth and gums. Materials and Methods: Across sectional study was carried out by collecting data from 60 children. The data were collected by using the DMFT index, the gingival index (GI), the plaque index (PI) by Loe and Silness, and measuring serum vitamin B12 level in pg/ml. The data about serum B12 levels were obtained through referring the children into Hivi Pediatric Teaching Hospital for investigating the vitamin B12 level. The reference range value of vitamin B12 level for children aged 10-13 was 250-900 pg/ml. The group investigating below the level of 250 pg/ml was recorded as the vitamin B12-deficient group. All data were recorded and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS, IBM, Chicago, USA, version 28). The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) method was used to find out the strength of correlation of vitamin B12 levels with DMFT, GI, and PI scores. Results: Among the randomly recruited 60 children, 84% of the participants observed deficient vitamin B12 levels 69.7% of them were boys, and 78.4% of them were girls. After group adjustment, in the deficient group, the vitamin B12 levels were observed to have a significant negative correlation with DMFT or dmf, while with GI, vitamin B12 levels were observed to have a highly significant negative correlation and no significant correlation with PI. In the normal group, the vitamin B12 levels showed no significant correlation with DMFT or dmf, while with GI, vitamin B12 levels showed a significant negative correlation and no significant correlation with PI. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a clear correlation between Vitamin B12 deficiency and poor oral health outcomes in children aged 10 to 13 years.

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Authors

Dilan Sh. Mohammed Tahir

Department of P.O.P, College of Dentistry, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Hashim Dawood Mousa

Department of Periodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Duhok. Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Huda Jameel Qasim

Department of P.O.P, College of Dentistry, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Bangen Mohammed Karam

Department of Periodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Duhok. Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Identifiers

DOI: 10.33899/rdentj.v26i1.60504

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