Association Between Early Childhood Caries, Low Birth Weight and Nutritional Risk Factors: (Cohort Study)

Dental caries is on the top list of most widespread chronic diseases in addition to be a major public health issue. Dental caries is the single most common chronic childhood disease; it is 5 times more common than asthma, 7 times more common than hay fever and 14 times more common than chronic bronchitis. Deciduous tooth decay was ranked as the 12th most prevalent condition, affecting 560 million children in the 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study.

Low birth weight and premature birth are highly related to infant mortality, perinatal infections and the poor growth and development of children. Some risk groups have been identified, and attention should be focused on them so that preventive and health promotion measures are taken in an attempt to reverse this situation. One of these risk groups is composed of children born prematurely. Prematurity may be a predisposing factor for the development of caries.

There is a strong relationship between birth weight and infant mortality and morbidity and chronic diseases later in life. Many studies discussed the association between birth weight and dental caries however the results were conflicting. Knowledge of the association between low birth weight and the risk factors of ECC and the associated nutritional risk factors will improve the preventive and health promotion measures for this population.