Factors Associated with Delayed Decidous Incisor Eruption in Infants

INTRODUCTION: Tooth eruption is an essential component of growth monitoring. However maternal (transplacental or breast feeding exposures) or infant factors ( morbidity, anthropometry and nutritional status) influence on delayed decidous tooth eruption are still unknown in the region. OBJECTIVES: To investigate key predictors of delayed decidous incisor eruption in infants. METHODS: As part of a randomized clinical trial of nutritional supplements ,62 children were followed from birth to eruption of the first incisors. Mothers were recruited at the second trimester. Health status and anthropometric measurements and serum concentrations of heamoglobin, ferritin, retinol in the mother and child were performed at birth, 14 weeks and 26 weeks postpartum. Mothers provided additional data which included demographic information, prepartum baseline measurements and 36 weeks gestation, as well as 4 weeks postpartum breast milk retinol levels. RESULTS: The earliest eruption age of decidous incisors was 12 weeks and the median eruption time was 26 weeks (95% CI=24.2-26.8). The mean birth weight was 3.28 (95% CI=3.17-3.39) kg and ranged from 2.1 to 4.3 kg. The distribution was comparable to standards from the National centre for Health statistics-US. There was overall association between age of eruption and birthweight (Pearson correlation= -0.27,p=0.048). The median age of eruption for children with birthweight < 3.3kg (n=28) was 28.0 (95% CI=26.8-29.2) while for those => 3.3kg (n= 24)it was 24.0(95% CI=22.9-25.1)(log rank statistic=5.82, p-value =0.015). No association was found between eruption and other maternal covariates which included mothers age, parity, gravidae, nutritional status( mid upper arm circumference, body mass index), aneamic status, ferritin and Vitamin A serum levels at the different followup visits. CONCLUSION: The association between birthweight and age of eruption indicates that prenatal stunted growth has long term effect on infants normal growth parameters, but not by factors linked to postnatal nutritional wasting.