Biological and chronological age of dental eruption and its relation to nutritional status in pediatric patients in the dental clinic Dr. René Puig Bentz of the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University.

The nutritional status of pediatric patients is critical to their growth and development. Assessment includes anthropometry (weight, height and BMI), biochemical analysis, dietary assessment and clinical examination. The most common problems are malnutrition, overweight, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies, such as iron and vitamin D. The main objective of this study was to determine the correlation between biological age and dental eruption chronology and nutritional status in pediatric patients newly admitted to the Dr. René Puig Bentz Dental Clinic. A population of 65 patients aged between five and ten years was studied. The children were weighed, their height measured to determine their BMI and nutritional status, and their panoramic radiographs evaluated to estimate their biological age using the Nolla method. The results showed that, in terms of biological age, the most common age was seven years (29.08%) and the least common age was ten years (4.62%); the most common chronological age was eight years (24.62%). It was also observed that the sex with the earliest tooth eruption was female (13.85%). Finally, there was a predominance of accelerated eruption in underweight children (6.15%), a predominance of delayed eruption in healthy weight children (21.54%) and a predominance of accelerated eruption in obese children (9.23%). In overweight children there was a predominance of delayed eruption (7.69%) and in obese children there was a predominance of accelerated eruption (7.69%).