Association of Maternal Stress and Social Support during Pregnancy with Growth Marks of Primary Tooth Enamel in Children

Mountain RV, Zhu Y, Pickett OR, et al. Association of maternal stress and social support during pregnancy with growth marks in children's primary tooth enamel. JAMA Network Open. 2021; 4(11): e2129129. doi: 10.1001  jamanetworkopen. 2021.29129

Commentary

This study was conducted to assess whether tooth enamel growth marks are associated with prenatal and perinatal maternal exposure to psychosocial factors.

This prospective cohort study used exfoliated primary canine teeth and　epidemiological survey data from 70 children enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a birth cohort based in Bristol, England.

The avulsed teeth were collected from children aged 5 to 7 years; data were collected from January 1, 1991 to December 31, 1998 and analyzed from January 1, 2019 to August 10, 2021. Four types of prenatal and perinatal maternal psychosocial factors were studied.

Results included a total of 70 children (34 of 70 males [48.7%] and 63 of 67 Caucasians [94.0%]), most of whom were born at full term (57 [83.8%]) to mothers of typical childbearing age (60 [88.2%]).

The neonatal line was observed to be wider in children born to mothers who self-reported severe lifetime depression (β = 3.35; 95% CI, 1.48-5.23; P = .001), lifetime psychiatric problems (β = 2.66; 95% CI Or there is thus also an elevation in anxiety or depressive symptoms at 32 weeks gestation. (β = 2.29; 95% CI, 0.38-4.20; P = .02) In contrast, the neonatal line was found to be narrower in children born to mothers who self-reported higher social support immediately after birth. (β = -2.04; 95% CI, -3.70 to -0.38; P = .02)

The magnitude of these associations was large, with differences of up to 1.2 SD units, and persisted after adjustment for other risk factors.