This study aimed to investigate the association between oral disease burden and oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) among overweight/obese (OW/OB) and normal weight (NW) Malaysian adolescents. A total of 397 adolescents were involved in the two-year prospective observational cohort study. OHRQOL was measured through a self-administered questionnaire containing the short version of the Malaysian Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP[M]). Body mass index (BMI) was used for anthropometric measurement. Whilst, decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, Significant Caries Index (SiC), simplified basic periodontal examination (S-BPE), and gingival bleeding index (GBI) were used for clinical assessment tools. Higher dental caries prevalence was observed in the NW group while higher SiC was reported in the OW/OB group. Regardless of the obesity status, the prevalence of gingivitis (BPE code 1 and 2) was high in this study. A reduction of GBI prevalence was observed in the two-year follow-up results with an increased prevalence of OHRQoL impact in the OW/OB group compared to the NW group (p > 0.05). The findings from this study suggested that obesity status did not have influence over the burden of oral diseases and OHRQoL. It offers insights referring to the changes in adolescents’ oral diseases burden and OHRQoL.

Regeneration of a pulp–dentin complex requires coordinated angiogenesis. This study investigated the angiogenic potential of Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) in decellularized human dental pulp (DHDP) treated with bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7). Decellularized human dental pulp tissues were repopulated with WJMSCs, with or without BMP-7 (50 ng/mL). Degradation rate, swelling ratio, and pore size of DHDP samples were assessed. DHDP and repopulated DHDP were evaluated through hematoxylin and eosin and 4′, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. Biocompatibility of DHDP, BMP-7, and DHDP+BMP-7 on WJMSCs was assessed using the MTT assay. WJMSCs’ viability was evaluated using a resazurin-based assay on days 7, 14, and 21. Angiogenic potential was assessed by measuring vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGFA) gene expression via quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and VEGF-A protein expression via immunohistochemistry. At 21 days, DHDP exhibited a degradation rate of 40.19%, moderate swelling (77.22 ± 0.59%), and a significantly larger mean pore size (12.393 ± 0.638 µm²) than HDP (5.956 ± 0.501 µm²; p = 0.039). Histologically, DHDP exhibited complete nuclei removal, while WJMSCs were well integrated into the DHDP stroma. DHDP, BMP-7, and DHDP+BMP-7 were non-cytotoxic to WJMSCs. The DHDP+WJMSC+BMP-7 group demonstrated significantly higher cell viability at all time points compared with DHDP+WJMSC alone (p < 0.01), and VEGFA expression was significantly increased at both mRNA (p = 0.002) and protein levels. BMP-7 (50 ng/mL) can enhance WJMSC proliferation and VEGFA/VEGF-A expression within DHDP scaffolds while maintaining biocompatibility.