Moms' health, education affect teens' oral health

A mother's emotional health and education level during her child's earliest years influence oral health at age 14, according to a new study from the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine (Journal of Dental Research, September 2012, Vol. 91:9, pp.859-864).

The researchers started with the oral health of the teens and worked backward to age 3 to find out what factors in their past influenced their oral health outcomes.

While mothers were interviewed for this study, lead investigator Suchitra Nelson, PhD, a professor in the dental school, believes it can apply to whoever is the child's primary caregiver.

Nelson's team examined the teeth of 224 adolescent participants in a longitudinal study that followed very low and normal birth-weight children. Over the years, they gathered health and medical information from the children and their mothers to assess the child's well-being at age 3, 8, and now 14.

The researchers analyzed the teen's oral health by counting the number of decayed, filled, or missing permanent teeth and assessed the level of dental plaque.

Mothers completed a questionnaire about preventive treatments, sugary juice or soft drink consumption, access to dental care, and frequency of dental visits.

The data revealed that even with access to dental insurance, fluoride treatments, and sealants as young children, it did not always prevent cavities by age 14, Nelson said.

Using a statistical modeling program that tracked pathways from the teen's dental assessments back to the source of where the oral health originated led researchers right to mothers and their overall emotional health, education level, and knowledge when children were at ages 3 and 8.

The researchers found that if mothers struggled in any of the three areas, the oral health of the teens at age 14 resulted in higher numbers of oral health problems.

"We can't ignore the environments of these children," Nelson said. "It isn't enough to tell children to brush and floss; they need more -- and particularly from their caregivers."

The researchers also found that mothers with more education beyond high school, with healthy emotional states and knowledge about eating right had children with healthier teeth.