Association between ECC with Serum Iron and Serum Ferritin Levels

Methods: In this double-blind, randomized cross-sectional study, 150 children aged 24-71 mos were clinically examined for dental caries by a dentist using the World Health Organization criteria. Decayed, missing, and filled primary tooth (dmft) indices were used to measure dental caries. To determine serum iron and serum ferritin levels, a 2-mL quantity of blood was collected, and serum iron and serum ferritin levels were assessed. Data were then analyzed by the Pearson correlation coefficient and t test with SPSS-16 software.

Results: The mean and SD of dmft indices, serum iron, and serum ferritin levels were 2.4 ± 1.3 and 70.7 ± 32.9 µg/dL and 83.6 ± 35.1 ng/mL, respectively. There was no significant difference between genders. Pearson correlation coefficient showed that there was a statistically significant inverse association between ECC and serum iron level, but the same result was not found with the serum ferritin level.

Conclusion: The prevalence of ECC was significantly decreased with increasing serum iron level.