2026 Volume 76 Issue 1 Pages 29-37
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between periodontal condition during pregnancy and early childhood caries at 3 years old.
The participants enrolled in this study were 259 children who received oral health examinations at both the 18-month and 3-year-old health check-ups, and their mothers who received a free dental health check-up for pregnant women in N city, Tokushima Prefecture between fiscal years 2013 and 2015. Data from dental health check-ups during pregnancy, at the 18-month and 3-year health examinations for their children, and questionnaire results were used to analyze factors associated with the presence of dental caries at 3 years old. Additionally, A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted with the presence of “3-year-old dental caries” as the dependent variable.
At the 3-year-old health examination, 27 children (10.4%) had dental caries, and 12 of them had multiple caries (4 or more teeth). Associations were found between the presence of “6 mm or more periodontal pockets” during pregnancy and the presence of dental caries (odds ratio=5.33, p<0.01, 95% confidence interval: 1.52–18.76) and multiple caries (odds ratio=7.20, p<0.05, 95% confidence interval: 1.44–35.91) in the 3-year-old children.
These findings suggest that children born to women with periodontal pockets of 6 mm or more during pregnancy may be at high risk for early childhood dental caries at 3 years old.
