title: The relationship between term pre-eclampsia and the risk of early childhood caries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that pre-eclampsia is associated with higher incidence of early childhood caries in children aged between 3 and 5 years old.
  
  
  METHODS
  An observational non concurrent cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Al-Hayat National Hospital, Khamees Mushyat, Saudi Arabic Kingdom.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred children aged 3-5 years who fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  A detailed dental examination was carried out for all children enrolled. We obtained all relevant obstetric data from mothers' and pediatric's medical records. Thirty cases were excluded due to missing data and therefore, only 170 children were considered for the statistical analysis. Results were tabulated and statistically analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Early childhood caries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-three children (37%) of the 170 were affected with early childhood caries; 6 were delivered to pre-eclamptic and 57 to non pre-eclamptic mothers. Using logistic regression curve, early childhood caries was significantly associated with low birthweight, low Apgar score at 1st min and with the pattern of infant feeding but not with pre-eclampsia. The relative risk for early childhood caries was 2.84 among low birthweight infants (95%CI: 1.47-5.49), 1.95 among non breast fed children (95% CI: 1.11-4.20) and 2.64 among those delivered with an Apgar score less than 5 at 1 minute (95%CI:1.46-4.77).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pre-ecalampsia may not be associated with early childhood caries. A larger study and/or a study addressing the relation between pre-eclampsia and caries inducing lesions may provide more significant results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Menofyia University , Egypt .
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sayyed
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kandil
authors.forename: Othman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bashir
authors.forename: Haytham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alnaser
mesh_terms: D001034:Apgar Score; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D018570:Risk Assessment