Is there association between severe early childhood caries and weight at 25-28 weeks of fetal life? A longitudinal pilot study

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Sever early dental caries in childhood is one of the health problems. This study was performed to determine the association between weight at 25 and 28 weeks of fetal life and severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) at 1.5-2 years of age among some of children in Kerman, Iran. METHODS: In this longitudinal study, 100 pregnant mothers and their newborns examined via sonography for fetus weight and clinically for dental caries, using International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) criteria. Variables, including fetus weight and presence or absence of signs of S-ECC, were recorded in a checklist. Data were analyzed using t-test. RESULTS: The mean fetal weight of 10 children with signs of S-ECC at 25-28 weeks of fetal life was 752.4 g. However, this mean was 898.05 g for 35 children, who did not have any signs of S-ECC. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: It appears there is an association between the rate of changes in fetal weight at 25-28 weeks of gestational age and occurrence S-ECC. Due to the fetal weight can be effective on thickness as and hardness of enamel developed on deciduous maxillary incisors, therefore, the fetal weight can be associate to the occurrence of S-ECC in these teeth after birth. KEYWORDS: Fetal Life; Severe Early Childhood Caries; Weigh