title: Maternal Depression Increases Childhood Dental Caries: A Cohort Study in Brazil.
abstract: To investigate the relationship between maternal depression and childhood caries in a cohort of adolescent mothers.
  
  
  
  This cross-sectional study nested in a cohort evaluated a sample of 538 mother/child dyads. When the children were 24-36 months of age, data regarding oral health from children and mothers were collected by clinical dental examination. A mother's major depressive disorder was assessed by using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI [Plus]), at the current moment. Independent variables were obtained by using questionnaires. The outcome on dental caries experience was dichotomized by using 2 cut points: dmfs ≥1 and dmfs ≥3. Poisson regression analysis, using a hierarchical approach, was applied to assess the association between major depressive disorder in mothers with and those without caries experience and the outcome.
  
  
  
  The prevalence of dental caries in children was 15.1% (n = 82). The mean dmfs index was 1.12 (SD = 3.72). The prevalence of major depressive disorder was 32.6% (n = 168). An interaction between caries status and depressive disorder was found, and after adjusted analysis, children from mothers with major depressive disorder with negative caries experience presented a higher caries prevalence (prevalence ratio 4.00, 95% confidence interval 1.29-12.41).
  
  
  
  Our findings suggest that maternal psychiatric disorders could have a negative impact on children's oral health.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dos Santos Pinto
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Ávila Quevedo
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Britto Correa
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sousa Azevedo
authors.forename: Marília
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leão Goettems
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tavares Pinheiro
authors.forename: Flávio Fernando
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Demarco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult