Journal of Dental Research, Vol 72, 1573-1576, Copyright © 1993 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
A longitudinal study of dental caries in the primary teeth of children who suffered from infant malnutrition
J. O. Alvarez, J. Caceda, T. W. Woolley, K. W. Carley, N. Baiocchi, L. Caravedo and J. M. Navia
Department of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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.
