Dental Cavities Linked To Kids With Chronically Stressed Mothers, Says Study

For the first time, experts have found links and biological markers to chronic maternal stress and dental cavities. A study done by researchers at the King's College London and University of Washington and published in the American Journal of Public Health has discovered the links.

Analysts studied the data taken by the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1988 to 1994 of 716 maternal-child pairs in the United States, according to Eureka Alert. They discovered that dental cavities were more present in children with mothers who have experienced chronic stress.

"We know that low socioeconomic status is associated with chronic exposure to adverse living circumstances. These take a toll on a person biologically and also affect behavior," said Erin E. Masterson, one of the study authors, according to Psych Central.

"This study uniquely highlights the importance of considering the influence of socioeconomic status and maternal stress on children's oral health through mothers' struggles to adopt healthy patterns that are major predictors of dental cavities, such as brushing her children's teeth regularly, maintaining healthy dietary habits, and taking regular visits to the dentist for preventive care," Masterson said.

Chronic stress is defined by biological markers known as allostatic load (AL), which are tested during pregnancy, according to Medical News Today. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and C-reactive protein were tested in the blood levels, and blood pressure and waist circumference were also taken.

Mothers with AL markers had at least two or more children with dental issues. Moreso, the children who were not breastfed also presented dental caries.  Mothers from low income families usually don't practice breastfeeding, nor take their child to the dentist as early as one year old. These mothers may sometimes also not feed their child breakfasts, compared to higher-income mothers, according to Health Aim.

What this study hopes is to help concerned agencies come up with improve dental health policies. "Policy that aims to improve dental health, particularly the prevalence of cavities among children, should include interventions to improve the quality of life of mothers," said Dr. Wael Sabbah, another co-author via Psych Central.

"Chronic maternal stress as a potential risk factor is something we need to consider, in addition to the wider implications of maternal well-being, social, and psychological environment on dental health," Dr. Sabbah added.

However, the experts noted that the observation does not indicate any causality and they acknowledged that the data used for the study were old and outdated.