Is low birthweight associated with dental caries in permanent dentition?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis of association between low birthweight and dental caries. This study used data from the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, 1988-94 (NHANES III) including 7- to 11-year-old children with complete dental caries information (n = 2439). Two case definitions for dental caries were used: presence of the disease in more than one tooth, and more than 10% of teeth with dental caries. Low birthweight was defined as those children born weighing <2500 g. Other covariates used in the analysis were sex, age, poverty level, race/ethnicity, frequency of dental visit, education of head of household, daily sucrose intake, blood lead level and blood cotinine level. A separate analysis was conducted for each case definition of dental caries. Bivariable and stratified analysis was performed followed by multivariable Poisson regression. The Stata 8.0 statistical package was used to take into consideration the multistage complex sample. For the definition of more than one tooth with dental caries, the prevalence ratios (PRs) for bivariable and multivariable analyses were 1.28 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.48, 3.42] and 1.01 [95% CI: 0.41, 2.49] respectively. For the definition of >10% of teeth with dental caries, the PRs for bivariable and multivariable analyses were 1.33 [95% CI: 0.60, 2.96] and 1.32 [95% CI: 0.75, 2.30] respectively. This study could not demonstrate an association between low birthweight and dental caries in permanent teeth of 7- to 11-year-old American children.

Indicadores e fatores de risco da cárie dentária em crianças no Brasil – Uma revisão de literatura

“…Pois, em um estudo longitudinal realizado anteriormente 17 , foi observado que crianças com baixo peso aos 12 meses, sem especificação de prematuridade, apresentaram maior risco de ter alto índice de cárie. Resultados divergentes foram obtidos por Saraiva et al 18 (2007), pois não encontraram associação estatística entre peso no nascimento e CPOD na faixa etária dos sete aos 11 anos de idade, porém os dados de peso ao nascimento desse estudo foram obtidos por meio de questionário respondido pelo responsável no momento do estudo, enquanto no desenho de estudo realizado por Peres et al 15 (2005), o peso foi obtido por pesagem da criança, o que seria mais confiável.…”

“…Observou-se que as crianças abaixo do peso aos 12 meses apresentaram chance (OR) 4,1 vezes maior de apresentar alto índice de cárie 17 . Entretanto, Saraiva et al 18 (2007) também tiveram como objetivo avaliar a associação entre baixo peso ao nascimento, segundo relato da mãe em questionário, e CPOD aos sete e 11 anos de idade, porém, os autores não encontraram correlação estatística. Esses resultados também corroboram o estudo transversal realizado com 80 crianças que nasceram prematuras no Hospital Regional da Asa Sul (HRAS) de Brasília, no qual os autores concluíram que a prematuridade não é um fator predisponente para cárie 19 .…”

Association Between Dental Caries in Primary Dentition with Low Birth Weight and Premature Birth: A Case-Control Study

“…This finding was in line with that of Javadi Nejad et al (18) who evaluated 100 children of 3 and 4 years and found a relationship between high DMFT and low birth weight. Biologic justification for the possible association between low birth weight and dental caries might be attributed to disruptions in development and maturation of enamel structures, which can lead to increased enamel defects due to pre-birth calcium deficiency and physiological stresses (7,15).…”

“…Previous studies have evaluated low birth weight and preterm birth as predisposing factors for the development of caries. Low birth weight is suggested to perhaps be associated with enamel defects such as hypomineralization and hypoplasia, possibly causing facilitation of streptococci mutans colonization and increases in dental plaque (7), which can destroy enamel structure (15). Nevertheless, previous studies are highly controversial.…”

“…Some studies indicate the link between low birth weight and dental caries (7,9,(16)(17)(18), while some studies reported insignificant association (12,14,15,19,20). Besides, previous studies did not assess premature birth and low birth weight as separate variables (7,9,12,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Therefore, this study was conducted to test whether children with higher caries rates have had lower birth weights and premature births or not.…”