Gingivitis and Insulin Resistance in Obese Children

The relationship between obesity and periodontal disease (PD) in adults is well known (1). However, PD is much less frequent in pediatric populations, although gingivitis is often documented. Untreated gingivitis may progress to a more complex destructive chronic PD later in life (2). Children who are obese (OB) or overweight (OWt) may also present other comorbidities such as dyslipidemia and/or insulin resistance (IR), which may also contribute to the development of inflammatory processes observed in PD. We studied the occurrence of gingival inflammation related to excess body fat, dyslipidemia, and IR in 90 white healthy Argentinean children/adolescents. Children/adolescents were referred to the outpatient Nutrition Clinic, Hospital Jose de San Martin, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, for assessment and treatment of obesity. The ethical committees of the hospital and the university approved the study. Excess …