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U-shaped association between maternal age at delivery and dental caries in offspring
Fernanda Cunha Soares1, Göran Dahllöf1,2,3, Anders Hjern4
1Department of Dental Medicine, Division of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Objective:
To determine the association between maternal age at delivery and caries in offspring.
Materials And Methods:
This registry-based cohort study included all children born between 2000 and 2003 and who were residing in Stockholm County, Sweden, at 7 years of age. Between 2007 and 2010, the cohort (n = 65,259) was examined to determine caries experience (deft scores) at 7 years of age. Age of mother at childbirth was retrieved from the patient histories. Data were analysed using linear regressions.
Results:
The lowest mean deft occurred in children born to mothers aged 25-34 years. The final model - adjusted for sex, income, educational level, migration background, family situation, smoking, obesity, small for gestational age, and number of siblings - found that young mothers and older mothers were significant risk indicators for caries experience at 7 years of age.
Conclusions:
The present study found a U-shaped relationship between maternal age at childbirth and caries experience in the offspring at age 7 years. The offspring of mothers under 25 or over 34 years of age are at greater risk of having more teeth with caries experience.
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