Association between Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Missing Teeth

Objectives: Impeded eruption or congenitally missing teeth without other birth defects is the most prevalent oral defect, possibly caused by the interactions of genetic and environmental factors. We hypothesized the prenatal factors, such as smoking during pregnancy, may affect tooth development or eruption. The objective of this study was to examine the smoking during pregnancy associated with missing teeth.
Methods: The study population comprised of pregnant women registered at the Koshu-City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, who gave birth between 1996 to1998 and 2000 to 2002, and their children. When the expectant mothers visited the city office for pregnancy registration, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted to ascertain their lifestyle habits. The data regarding missing teeth in the children were obtained from the compulsory dental health check-up conducted when they were in junior high school. Less than the normal number of teeth was diagnosed as missing teeth if it was caused presumably due to impeded eruption or developmentally absent teeth in any quadrant. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted.
Results: The study population comprised a total of 772 children. The prevalence ratio of missing teeth was 4.9%. Children whose mothers smoked six cigarettes or more per day were 4.37 (95%, CI:1.23, 15.57) times more likely to present with missing teeth, in comparison with those children whose mothers did not smoke, after adjustment of possible confounders including paternal smoking status, maternal alcohol and breakfast consumption, maternal age at delivery, and sex of the children. Paternal smoking status, maternal alcohol consumption, and maternal breakfast consumption were not associated with missing teeth.
Conclusions: Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with missing teeth of their children. Our findings add to the knowledge of the smoking during pregnancy can be a risk factor of impeded eruption or congenitally missing teeth.