Vitamin D status in pregnancy implicated in early childhood dental caries

Higher maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels throughout pregnancy appear to reduce the likelihood of dental caries in offspring in early childhood, according to a prospective study from China.

Researchers enrolled pregnant women from the Zhoushan Pregnant Women Cohort. Maternal plasma 25[OH]D were levels measured in the first, second, and third trimesters. The offspring underwent their first follow-up visit at 42 days of age, with subsequent visits were conducted every 6 months from 6–30 months of age and annually from 3–5 years of age.

Early childhood caries was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included the decayed, missing, or filled teeth index and caries rate.

The analysis included 4,109 mother-offspring pairs (median maternal age 29 years, offspring gestational age at birth 39 weeks, 51.6 percent male). Early childhood caries occurred in 960 children. Children born to mothers with higher 25(OH)D levels throughout pregnancy had reduced odds of early childhood caries (first trimester: odds ratio [OR], 0.98, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.97–0.99; p=0.009; second trimester: OR, 0.98, 95 percent CI, 0.97–0.99; p=0.001; third trimester: OR, 0.99, 95 percent CI, 0.98–1.00; p=0.009).

Categorical analyses suggested elevated odds of early childhood caries in children born to mothers with vitamin D insufficiency, vitamin D deficiency, and severe vitamin D deficiency relative to children born to mothers with vitamin D sufficiency, although the statistical significance of some associations was attenuated after false discovery rate correction.

Additionally, higher maternal 25(OH)D levels were associated with lower decayed, missing, or filled teeth scores (third trimester: β, −9.97; p=0.01) and caries rate (third trimester: β, −50.87; p=0.01).