A Longitudinal Study of Dental Caries in the Primary Teeth of Children who Suffered from Infant Malnutrition

Abstract

A prospective, four-year longitudinal study of 209 Peruvian children was conducted to evaluate the effect of a single malnutrition episode occurring at infancy (i.e., < 1 year of age) on dental caries in the primary teeth. Children were recruited into the study at age 6-11 months after they had suffered from a malnutrition episode and were thus classified by anthropometry as either: (1) Normal; (2) Wasted (low weight for height); (3) Stunted (low height for age); or (4) Stunted and Wasted (S and W). Eruption of the primary teeth was significantly delayed in all malnourished children; however, the effect of stunting--that is, retarded linear growth--was more pronounced and lasted longer than that of wasting or acute malnutrition (i.e., 2.5 vs. 1.5 years, respectively). By age 4 years, children from group 4 (S and W) showed a significantly higher caries experience in the primary teeth than did those in any of the other three groups. In summary, this longitudinal study has confirmed previous studies in animals and indirect epidemiological evidence which had suggested a cause-effect relationship between early malnutrition and increased dental caries.

Dental markers of poverty: Biocultural deliberations on oral health of the poor in mid‐nineteenth‐century Ireland

“…While several clinical studies have reported a positive correlation between malnutrition and caries in primary teeth (Alvarez & Navia, 1989; Ismail, 1998; Johansson, Saellström, Rajan, & Parameswaran, 1992), there is currently a limited understanding as to whether the same relationship exists for the permanent dentition. A review article published in 2005 (Psoter, Reid, & Katz, 2005) only identified one longitudinal case study from Peru (Alvarez et al, 1993), where a link between early childhood protein‐energy malnutrition (PEM) and caries in the permanent dentition was observed. This particular study argued that the same factors observed in experimental rat studies, where malnourishment due to PEM and Vitamin A deficiency resulted in impaired amelogenesis and reduced salivary flow rates, caused an increase in caries frequencies (Harris & Navia, 1980; Johansson, Ericson, Bowen, & Cole, 1985; Navia, 1979).…”

Correlation Between Malnutrition and Dental Caries in Children

“…For age group 6 years, the prevalence of dental caries was low in underweight children (76.7% versus 87.8%). The possible explanation could be a delayed tooth eruption among malnourished children which may have resulted in delayed caries development 16 .…”

Fatores sócio-econômicos relacionados ao risco nutricional e sua associação com a freqüência de defeitos do esmalte em crianças da cidade de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil

“…Sendo relevante ressaltar que não apenas a ingestão inadequada de nutrientes, mas também as doenças infecciosas, contribuem para a instalação dos déficits nutricionais, devido à possibilidade de estas exporem a criança a repetidos eventos patológicos, capazes de levar à perda de peso e à morbidade de conseqüências significativas, dentro de um ciclo de repetição 28 . Deficiências nutricionais são capazes de repercutir no desenvolvimento de estruturas do organismo, entre as quais, os elementos dentais -tanto em seu processo de formação, quanto na sua cronologia de erupção 8 situação justificada pelos desequilíbrios nutricionais observados, e corroborada por estudos anteriores 10,30 .…”