Relationship between birth weight and time of first deciduous tooth eruption in 143 consecutively born infants.
BACKGROUND
Deciduous teeth play an important role in the proper alignment, spacing and occlusion of permanent teeth. The calcification of deciduous teeth begins during the fourth prenatal month, and calcification of all deciduous teeth begin by the end of the sixth prenatal month. The eruption date varies and is genetically influenced. Delayed eruption of deciduous teeth, especially the first teeth, causes nutritional problems for the infants. It also results in parental concerns. In this study, we compared the timing of eruption of the first deciduous teeth in infants in relation to their birth weight.


METHODS
A total of 143 infants born at Shariati Hospital in Tehran from December 2004 to December 2005 were included in the study. Data on sex, birth weight, gestational age, and time of first tooth eruption were collected.


RESULTS
The mean birth weight was 3220 +/- 420 g with 5.5% of infants weighing less than 2500 g, and 19.9% weighing more than 3500 g. Patients were monitored weekly from the third month of age until the time of first tooth eruption. The mean age of first tooth eruption was 7.68 +/- 1.84 months.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a negative linear correlation between the time of first deciduous tooth eruption and birth weight, suggesting that delayed tooth eruption may be related to lower birth weight.
Sajjadian
Negar
N
Department of Neonatology, Shariati Hospital, School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: nsajadian@tums.ac.ir.
Shajari
H
H
Department of Neonatology, Shariati Hospital, School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Jahadi
Ramin
R
Department of Craniofacial Surgery, 15 Khordad Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Barkett
Michael G
MG
Biomedical Studies, La Sierra University, Riverside, California, USA.
Sajjadian
Ali
A
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Satellite Centers, Private Practice, Orange County, California, USA.
D000367:Age Factors; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014078:Tooth Eruption; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000502:physiology*