Zinc deficiency in children and especially their oral health is still unclear and also the effect of systemic zinc deficiency is not widely known. The main objective of this study is to do comparison of the incidence of dental caries and gingival health status of zinc-deficient children with healthy children.

Sixty children were selected and out of them 30 were zinc-deficient and 30 zinc-sufficient. Their serum zinc levels were quantified by spectrophotometry and were enlisted for the participation in the study. The serum zinc level of 70 μg/dL or below was recognized as a cut off value for zinc deficiency. Oral examination was done by an experienced single dentist. Decayed tooth, missing tooth, or filled primary (dmft) and permanent teeth (DMFT), plaque index (PI) and gingival (GI), scores of zinc-deficient (case group) and zinc-sufficient children (control group) were evaluated. Data was analysed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Mann-Whitney U tests.

The results of the study showed that the mean dmft, DMFT, GI, and PI scores of the case and control groups were 4.03 vs 2.33, 1.87 vs 1.03, 2.40 vs 1.33 and 1.63 vs 0.43, respectively. Even though the DMTF indices were high in zinc-deficient children, the variance was not statistically significant.

Thus, the study concluded that children with systemic zinc deficiency have a higher caries occurrence along with poor gingival health as compared to the zinc-sufficient children.

Source: Atasoy HB, Ulusoy ZI. The relationship between zinc deficiency and childrens oral health. Pediatr Dent. 2012 Sep-Oct;34(5):383-6. PMID: 23211913.