A Little Sunshine Before Birth May Mean Fewer Carious Lesions Later
New research suggests that a mother’s vitamin D levels during pregnancy may play a meaningful role in her child’s risk for early childhood caries. Higher vitamin D status, especially later in pregnancy, was linked to fewer carious lesions, lower dmft scores, and reduced overall caries rates in young children.
Could a simple nutrient during pregnancy help shape a child’s oral health years later? A large prospective cohort study from the Zhoushan Pregnant Women Cohort suggests the answer may be yes. Researchers followed more than 4,000 mother-child pairs and found that higher maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy were consistently associated with a lower risk of early childhood caries in children ages 1 to 6. The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
About 23% of the children in the study developed early childhood caries (ECC). When researchers compared outcomes, they found that mothers of children with caries had significantly lower vitamin D levels, especially during the second and third trimesters. Across all trimesters, rising vitamin D levels were tied to lower odds of ECC, with the strongest protective effect showing up in the second trimester.
When vitamin D status was grouped into sufficiency, insufficiency, deficiency, and severe deficiency, the patterns became even clearer. Third-trimester insufficiency and severe deficiency were linked to noticeably higher decay risk. Similar trends appeared earlier in pregnancy, though the strongest and most consistent associations showed up as delivery approached.
Vitamin D status also tracked with caries severity. Higher third-trimester vitamin D levels were associated with lower decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) scores and lower overall caries rates, while deficiency in the second trimester predicted worse outcomes. These trends held up even when repeated dental exams over time were analyzed.
Biologically, the findings make sense. Vitamin D plays a role in enamel mineralization, tooth development, and immune response in oral tissues. Put simply, better maternal vitamin D levels may help build stronger primary teeth and improve a child’s defenses against cariogenic bacteria. Click here to read more.
