ANNALES ACADEMI AE MEDI CAE S TETI NENS I S
ROCZNI KI POMORS KI EJ AKADEMI I MEDYCZNEJ W S ZCZECI NI E
2009, 55, 3, 20 22
MARIA USTIANOWSKA, DAMIAN CZEPITA, KRYSTYNA LISIECKA1
DOES A CORRELATION EXIST BETWEEN MYOPIA AND DENTAL CARIES?
CZY ISTNIEJE ZALEŻNOŚĆ POMI
DZY WYST
POWANIEM
KRÓTKOWZROCZNOŚCI I PRÓCHNICY Z
BÓW?
Katedra i Klinika Okulistyki Pomorskiej Akademii Medycznej w Szczecinie
al. Powstańców Wlkp. 72, 70-111 Szczecin
Kierownik: prof. dr hab. n. med. Danuta Karczewicz
1
Zakład Stomatologii Dziecięcej Pomorskiej Akademii Medycznej w Szczecinie
al. Powstańców Wlkp. 72, 70-111 Szczecin
Kierownik: dr hab. n. med. Krystyna Lisiecka
Streszczenie H a s ł a: krótkowzroczność - próchnica zębów.
Wstęp: Celem pracy było przeprowadzenie oceny za-
leżności pomiędzy występowaniem krótkowzroczności Summary
i próchnicy zębów.
Materiał i metody: Przebadano 900 dzieci ze Szko- Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyze the
ły Podstawowej nr 3 w Szczecinie (443 chłopców i 457 coexistence of myopia and dental caries.
dziewcząt w wieku 7-13 lat, średni wiek 10 lat, SD = 2). Material and methods: 900 children from Elementary
Badani uczniowie należeli do rasy kaukaskiej, mieszkali School ! 3 in Szczecin, Poland were examined (443 boys
w Szczecinie i jego okolicach. Wykonywano skiaskopiÄ™ and 457 girls, aged 7-13 years, mean age 10, SD = 2). The
po cykloplegii. Wyniki wad refrakcji wyrażono w formie pupils were Caucasian and resided in or near Szczecin.
ekwiwalentu sferycznego (SE). Przyjęto, że w krótkowzrocz- The examination included retinoscopy under cycloplegia.
ności SE < -0,5 D. Stan zdrowia jamy ustnej oceniano Refractive error readings were expressed as the spheri-
według ujednoliconych kryteriów WHO. Stopień zaawan- cal equivalent (SE). Myopia was defined as SE of at least
sowania próchnicy określano na podstawie średniej liczby -0.5 D. Unified WHO criteria were used to evaluate the
puw i analizie jej składowych dla zębów mlecznych oraz state of health of the oral cavity. The advancement of car-
średniej liczby PUW i analizie jej składowych dla zębów ies was assessed basing on the mean value of dmf and its
staÅ‚ych. AnalizÄ™ danych przeprowadzono testem Ç2 Pearsona components for deciduous teeth, as well as on the mean
i testem U Manna Whitneya. Przyjęto poziom istotności value of DMF and its components for permanent teeth.
p < 0,05. The data was analyzed using Pearson s Ç2 test and Mann
Wyniki: Stwierdzono wysoką częstość występowania Whitney U test. P values of < 0.05 were considered sta-
próchnicy zębów u uczniów z (91,6%) i bez (93,8%) krótko- tistically significant.
wzroczności. Różnice pomiędzy tymi dwoma grupami nie Results: A high prevalence of dental carries with myopia
były istotne statystycznie (p > 0,05)  tabela 1. Poza tym (91.6%) and without myopia (93.8%) was found. Differences
u uczniów z krótkowzrocznością zaobserwowano niższe between these two groups were not statistically significant
wartości p (p < 0,01), puw (p < 0,001) dla zębów mlecznych (p > 0.05, table 1). Furthermore, lower values of d (p < 0.01)
oraz wyższe wartości W dla zębów stałych  tabela 2. and dmf (p < 0.001) in deciduous teeth and higher values of
Wniosek: Brak jest dodatniej zależności pomiędzy wy- F (p < 0.05) in permanent teeth were observed in associa-
stępowaniem krótkowzroczności i próchnicy zębów. tion with myopia (table 2).
DOES A CORRELATION EXIST BETWEEN MYOPIA AND DENTAL CARIES? 21
Conclusion: No positive correlation between myopia gia induced with two drops of 1% tropicamide administered
and dental caries was ascertained. 5 minutes apart. Thirty minutes after the last drop, pupillary
dilation and the presence of light reflex was ascertained and
K e y w o r d s: myopia - dental caries. retinoscopy was performed.
Refractive error readings were expressed as the spherical
equivalent (SE) - sphere power plus half negative cylinder
Introduction power. Myopia was defined as SE of at least -0.5 D. Both
eyes were examined, but only data from the right eye were
Recent clinical studies on the occurrence of myopia have analyzed. Myopia in the examined pupils did not exceed
focused on the possible role of many factors [1, 2], among -5.0 D (mean refractive error -1.2, SD = 0.7).
them dental caries [3, 4, 5, 6]. In 1971, Goldstein et al. [4] Routine dental examinations were conducted in the
examined 100 students from the College of Medicine at the school s dentist room. Unified WHO criteria were used
State University of New York, New York, NY and found to evaluate the state of health of the oral cavity. The advance-
that dental caries occured more frequently in subjects with ment of caries was assessed basing on the mean value of dmf
myopia (p < 0.05). However, the number of carious teeth (number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth) and its compo-
was not related to the severity of myopia. These findings nents for deciduous teeth, as well as on the mean value of DMF
were criticized by Cohen et al. [3] who questioned their and its components for permanent teeth. Retinoscopy and
validity and the hypothesis on the link between myopia and dental examination were performed by the same doctor (MU).
caries. In 1973, Hirsch and Levin [5] decided to repeat the The data was analyzed using Pearson s Ç2 test and
study of Goldstein et al. [4] in a group of 99 students from Mann Whitney U test. P values of < 0.05 were considered
the University of California, Berkeley, CA, and found that statistically significant.
dental caries occured more frequently in subjects with myo-
pia (p < 0.05) and that myopia d" -5 D predisposes to dental
caries (p < 0.01). Further research was done by Keller [6] Results
in 1978 who examined 196 children attending John Carroll
High School in Birmingham, AL. No proof of a correlation A high prevalence of dental carries among schoolchil-
between myopia and caries was found. dren with myopia (91.6%) and without myopia (93.8%) was
Due to the divergent data, we decided to reconsider the found. Differences between these two groups were not sta-
association between myopia and dental caries. tistically significant (p > 0.05, table 1). Furthermore, lower
values of d (p < 0.01) and dmf (p < 0.001) in deciduous teeth
and higher values of F (p < 0.05) in permanent teeth were
Material and methods observed in myopia (table 2).
T a b l e 1. Prevalence of dental caries in schoolchildren with
900 children from Elementary School ! 3 in Szczecin,
and without myopia
Poland were examined (443 boys and 457 girls, aged 7-13
T a b e l a 1. Występowanie próchnicy zębów u uczniów
years, mean age 10, SD = 2). The pupils were Caucasian and
z i bez krótkowzroczności
resided in or near Szczecin. The examinations were carried
Number of schoolchildren
out between February 1st and December 1st, 2005. Participa-
Liczba przebadanych uczniów
Parameters
tion was voluntary. Informed consent was obtained in each
Parametry
with caries without caries total
case from the child, parents or legal guardians, and school
z próchnicą bez próchnicy razem
principal. The study protocol adhered to the provisions of
With myopia
the Declaration of Helsinki for research involving human
142 13 155
Z krótkowzrocznością
subjects and was approved by the Bioethics Committee of
Without myopia
the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.
699 46 745
Bez krótkowzroczności
The children were examined in the school s medical
Total / Razem 841 59 900
room. The examination included retinoscopy under cyclople-
T a b l e 2. Average dmf/DMF and its components in schoolchildren with and without myopia
T a b e l a 2. Wartości średniej liczby puw/PUW i jej składowych u uczniów z krótkowzrocznością i bez krótkowzroczności
Parameters DMF
n d / p m / u f / w dmf / puw D / P M / U F / W
Parametry PUW
With myopia
155 1.67 0.02 0.77 2.46 1.14 0.01 0.87 2.02
Z krótkowzrocznością
Without myopia
745 2.29 0.09 1.14 3.52 1.28 0.01 0.56 1.85
Bez krótkowzroczności
p  < 0.01 > 0.05 > 0.05 < 0.001 > 0.05 > 0.05 < 0.05 > 0.05
22 MARIA USTIANOWSKA, DAMIAN CZEPITA, KRYSTYNA LISIECKA
Discussion Conclusion
Previous studies on the association between myopia There is no positive correlation between myopia and
and dental caries were carried out in relatively small groups dental caries.
(Goldstein et al. [4]  100, Hirsch and Levin [5]  99, Keller
[6]  196). To increase the credibility of the findings, we
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