Table 2. The mean ± SD of DMFT in independent variables in the GERD and control groups.

Variables	Categories	GERD group Mean ± SD	p-value	Control group Mean ± SD	p-value
Gastroesophageal reflux disease					0.73€
	Yes	15.09 ± 6.18		------
	No	------		15.00 ± 6.07
Frequency of regurgitation			0.87*
	Once or more/week	14.74 ± 5.32		14.70 ± 5.33	0.57*
	2–3 times/month	14.91 ± 5.80		15.36 ± 6.08
	No	15.15 ± 6.31		14.94 ± 6.07
Gender
	Female	14.54 ± 5.60	≤0.001€	14.91 ± 5.60	0.42€
	Male	15.97 ± 6.93		15.15 ± 6.74
Age at interview
	35–45	13.51 ± 5.73	≤0.001*	13.75 ± 5.57	≤0.001*
	46–55	16.15 ± 5.75		15.87 ± 6.13
	56–65	19.28 ± 6.72		17.73 ± 6.46
	≥66	18.90 ± 9.40		18.04 ± 7.27
Wealth score index
	Very poor	15.84 ± 6.62	0.02*	16.05 ± 6.51	0.08*
	Poor	16.19 ± 6.06		15.17 ± 6.44
	Moderate	15.15 ± 6.12		14.87 ± 6.15
	Good	14.13 ± 6.24		14.74 ± 5.99
	Very good	14.91 ± 5.81		14.85 ± 5.78
Years of education
	0–8	15.72 ± 6.33	≤0.001€	15.70 ± 6.34	≤0.001€
	≥9	14.01 ± 5.77		14.43 ± 5.77
Tobacco use
	Yes	17.19 ± 7.04	≤0.001€	16.29 ± 7.27	≤0.001€
	No	14.81 ± 6.00		14.82 ± 5.84
Alcohol drinking
	Yes	15.12 ± 7.92	0.22€	16.55 ± 7.91	0.98€
	No	15.09 ± 6.15		14.97 ± 6.02
Toothbrushing
	<1/day	15.96 ± 6.61	≤0.001€	16.03 ± 6.75	≤0.001€
	≥1/day	14.21 ± 5.58		14.44 ± 5.58
Sweet foods (gr/day)
(Free sugars: gr/day)	>23.91	14.68 ± 6.09	0.08*	15.12 ± 5.94	0.82*
	10.35–23.90	14.81 ± 5.91		14.95 ± 6.09
	≤10.34	15.71 ± 6.48		14.93 ± 6.18
Sweet beverages
(Free sugars: gr/day)	≥62.09	15.18±6.15	0.69*	15.24 ± 6.16	0.46*
	18.94–62.08	14.83±5.93		14.89 ± 5.95
	≤18.93	15.22±6.38		14.87 ± 6.12
Natural fruit juice
(Free sugars: gr/day)	≥7.563	14.91 ± 6.49	0.69*	14.80 ± 6.13	0.56*
	0.001–7.562	14.94 ± 6.38		15.15 ± 6.52
	≤0.000	15.28 ± 5.86		15.09 ± 5.75
Body Mass Index (kg/m 2 )
	<18.5	18.00 ± 2.83	0.33*	16.55 ± 6.99	0.69*
	18.5–24.9	15.65 ± 6.34		14.94 ± 6.23
	≥25	14.95 ± 6.14		15.01 ± 6.01

*One-way ANOVA

^€ Independent sample t-test