Diet and dental caries in preschoolers with and without cleft lip and palate in Lima, Peru

Aim: To demonstrate the relationship between diet and dental caries in preschool children with or without cleft lip and palate (CLP). Material and Methods: The participants included 142 children from 3 to 5 years old. The number of children with CLP was 91, and those without CLP were 51. The type of the study was analytical, comparative, and cross-sectional. The sampling was non-probabilistic for convenience, and the study variables were diet and dental caries. The study used the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) questionnaire to get data on diet and the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) index for dental caries. Results: The study found that participants with clefts had a higher prevalence of dental caries (86.8%) than those without (78.4%). Regarding inadequate diet, both groups presented a significant association with dental caries (p=0.036); cleft children who consumed sugar-free dairy products had less dental caries than those dmft did not (p=0.023). Conclusions: In cleft children, inadequate diet had a significant association with dental caries having a great association with sugary dairy products.