2001 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 152-160
We have continually studied the characteristics of oral morphology and function in very-low and extremely-low birth-weight infants.
The findings were as follows :
(1) The width of the frontal cranium was narrow, the growth of the mandible was poor, and the area of the occiput was enlarged in the lateral cranium of low-birth-weight infants at the age of 4 years.
(2) The deciduous dental arch of low-birth-weight infants was generally small and especially narrow in posterior width.
(3) Most deciduous crown diameters were smaller in low-birth-weight groups than in the normal-birth-weight group.
(4) The occlusal table area, the buccal cusp area, and the intercusp distances in the buccolingual direction of low-birth-weight groups were more reduced than those of the normal-birth-weight group in maxillary deciduous molars.
(5) The biting pressure and masticatory efficiency of low-birth-weight groups were lower than those of the normal-birth-weight group.
(6) The incidence of enamel hypoplasia and of fused teeth was higher and the microhardness of enamel and of dentin were lower in low-birth-weight groups than in the normal-birth-weight group.
The deciduous dental arch, deciduous crown dimensions, and biting pressure of very-low and extremely-low birth-weight infants would be iufluenced by the morphological characteristics of the cranium.
