Practices of Dietary Habits and Oral Hygiene among Dental Patients and Dental Caries Risk Scores: A Cross-sectional Study in Saudi Arabia

of meals ingested during the day. 6Insufficient intervals between meals disrupt the anticariogenic properties of saliva. 7Consequently, healthy eating guidelines suggest a duration of 3-4 hours between meals.Healthy persons should avoid nocturnal munching, as saliva production diminishes during this time. 9To prevent or treat caries, the diet must be adjusted to prioritize preventative goods above those that promote the caries process. 9ertain meals, owing to their chemical makeup and impact on the oral environment, can successfully safeguard the dentition from the onset of degenerative processes. 9 IntroductIonTooth decay is a civilization-related disease that affects individuals across all ages and different personal characteristics, with approximately 2.4 billion individuals believed to have experienced carious lesions.Furthermore, caries is the predominant cause of tooth loss in adults. 1 Dental caries is a condition resulting from the interplay of environmental, behavioral, and hereditary variables.Many studies assessed the dental caries experience among different Saudi populations.Dental caries level ranges from 5 to 99% in permanent teeth. 2 The primary factor influencing the development of caries is the intake of sweets in the diet. 3The World Health Organization recommends that the use of simple sugars should not surpass 10% of total energy requirements daily. 4Oral health is predominantly influenced by the quantity and frequency of cariogenic chemicals ingested through the diet. 1 Caries-inducing chemicals comprise readily fermentable carbohydrates, especially non-dairy sugars, which serve as substrates for the metabolic activities of cariogenic bacteria, whose byproducts are acids that lead to enamel demineralization. 5These sugars encompass sucrose, glucose, and fructose, which are prevalent in various confections, sugar, honey, syrups, sweetened beverages, particularly carbonated drinks, and fruit juices. 677]89 Research indicates that the primary threats to oral health are high-sugar snacks and beverages consumed between main meals, as they provide the substrate essential for the caries process.An additional crucial factor is the consistency