More evidence required to establish link between premature birth and altered oral development

PubMed provided the primary data source with references from identified papers being reviewed to find additional studies.

Reports were selected of controlled studies that provided quantitative data on the effects of premature birth on jaws, dentition, dental physiology and tooth anomalies, which were published in the English language.

Two independent evaluators extracted data describing the year of publication, definition of prematurity, sample size, material and age, methods and measurements, outcomes and authors' conclusions. Correlation between deformity/alteration and prematurity, intubation and sucking habit were considered. Methodological soundness was assessed and the quality of each article categorised as low, medium or high.

A total of 13 articles met the inclusion criteria. Quality was judged to be high for three studies, medium for nine studies and low for a single study. The chosen studies described altered palatal morphology (n=5), altered dental maturation (n=5) and altered tooth-crown dimensions (n=3). The limited evidence suggests there may be a correlation between prematurity and altered palate morphology in the short term, with oral intubation as a contributing factor. If corrected age was considered no delay was found in maturation.

This systematic review revealed contradictory results and a dearth of longitudinal studies in this subject area. Further well-designed controlled and longitudinal studies are required before any conclusions can be made regarding the consequences of premature birth on oral development.