It is well established that pediatric tooth decay is correlated with high sugar intake, but studies are now looking at tobacco. A study in Japan set out to investigate smoking during pregnancy and exposure to household smoke in infants as risk factors for tooth decay. 76,920 children born between 2004 and 2010 in Japan were analyzed. 55.3% of household exposed to second hand smoke. 12,729 incidents of dental caries were identified in total. This study concluded that exposure to tobacco smoke at 4 months of age was correlated with a two fold increased risk of tooth decay. Interesting enough the effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy was not statistically significant. The mechanism is unknown and the scientists acknowledge that other factor could contribute to the result. Since this experiment is an observation study it is still very early in development, but with so many establish studies done on the negative effects of secondhand smoke around children this could be another reason to quit smoking.
Reference: BMJ. "Exposure to secondhand smoke linked to increased risk of tooth decay in young children: Findings support extending public health, clinical interventions to reduce secondhand smoke." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 October 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151021215942.htm>.
It is interesting the tooth decay was impacted at an age as young as 4 months. These children will loose their teeth several years later, however, the tobacco smoke still impacts their adult teeth. Many people are turning to vape pens in place of traditional cigarettes. This may help to decrease the number of children suffering from second hand tobacco smoke exposure. However, it would be important to see if it is tobacco smoke specifically, or if other types of smoke have the same results. One type of smoke which may affect the children of Colorado in particular is smoke resulting from smoking marijuana.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the tooth decay could be due to improper formation of the baby teeth prior to teething. Teeth start erupting from the gingiva (gums) at anywhere from 4-7 months. Prior to teething, the formation of the teeth within the gingiva takes place. Maybe different hazardous chemicals in cigarette smoke are effecting proper formation of the teeth prior to eruption, around 4 months of age. Future research may look towards how molecular gradients in cultured gingival tissue change when exposed to cigarette smoke.
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