Association between Bubble Tea Additives and Dental Caries among Schoolchildren

Objectives: According to the report from Taiwan’s government in 2015, more than 60% population drank a cup of bubble tea once or more weekly. On the other hand, the dental caries prevalence among children aged 5 to 6 years was 79.32%, showing the inferior oral health status. Although literatures showed that sugary drinks can play a major role in the development of dental caries, the evidence that between bubble tea drinking and dental caries is scanty. This study investigated the association between different bubble tea additives (BTA) and dental caries among schoolchildren.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June to December in 2016. Children (n=1,856) of the 2nd to 3rd grades from multi-level stratified selected elementary schools were recruited for completion of self-administered questionnaire (BTA preference) by their parents or caregivers and receiving standard oral examination by trained dentists. Association between BTA and the status of dental caries was statistically analyzed using 0.05 as the significance level.
Results: Among the 1,856 schoolchildren, the caries prevalence of deciduous and permanent teeth were 82.70% and 40.84% respectively. 62.61% children were recognized with BTA preference and lower dental caries prevalence of deciduous teeth (81.84%) was noted than that of schoolchildren who regularly drank without BTA (90.09%, p=0.029). “Tapioca ball” (40.00%) and “pudding” (16.75%) were the most favorite BTA, but no statistically significant differences in terms of dental caries prevalence among children having different BTA preferences.
Conclusions: Children with BTA preference showed a lower caries prevalence of deciduous teeth than that of their peers drank without BTA. The direction of the causal relationship, if existed, needs further investigation.