Exposure to secondhand smoke linked to increased risk of tooth decay in young children

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/b-ets101915.php

Public Release: 21-Oct-2015
Exposure to secondhand smoke linked to increased risk of tooth decay in young children
Findings support extending public health and clinical interventions to reduce secondhand smoke
BMJ

Although these findings cannot establish causality, they support extending public health and clinical interventions to reduce secondhand smoke, say the researchers.

The level of dental caries in deciduous (baby) teeth in developed countries remains high - 20.5% in children ages 2 to 5 years in the US and 25% in children aged 3 years in Japan.

While established methods for caries prevention in young children is limited to sugar restriction, oral fluoride supplementation and fluoride varnish, some studies have suggested associations between secondhand smoke and caries.

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They analysed data for 76,920 children born between 2004 and 2010 attending routine health checkups at 0,4,9, and 18 months and at 3 years of age at health care centres in Kobe City, Japan.

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Compared with having no smoker in the family, exposure to tobacco smoke at 4 months of age was associated with an approximately twofold increased risk of caries.

The risk of caries was also increased among those exposed to household smoking, by 1.5-fold, whereas the effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy was not statistically significant.

This is an observational study so no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, stress the authors, and results may have been influenced by other unmeasured factors.

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