September 2014

Objective: To determine the prevalence of gingival bleeding on probing and the associations between dietary intake of calcium, vitamins A and E and gingival bleeding on probing in Sri Lankan preschool children. Basic Research Design: A cross-sectional study. Participants: 784 children aged 48-72 months attending preschools in the Kegalle district and their mothers/carers. Results: The prevalence of gingival bleeding on probing was 52.9%. A Poisson logistic regression model revealed that children with a high daily dietary intake of calcium were less likely to have gingival bleeding on probing than those with low intake (PR=0.80; 95%CI 0.64,0.98). Also prevalence of gingival bleeding was higher in children: with plaque on their teeth; whose mothers were not employed; or, were from families with three or more children. Conclusions: The prevalence of gingivitis was high in the children and the findings suggest that high levels of dietary calcium intake are associated with reduced gingival bleeding in preschool children. Key words: calcium, vitamin A, vitamin E, gingivitis, Sri Lanka, dietary intake