Introduction
Folk wisdom has linked dental health with childbirth for time
immemorial. ‘‘A tooth for a child’’ has an equivalent in
many languages w6x. Its implication is that the demands of
pregnancy include the loss of a tooth, with some studies
showing an inverse relationship in older women between
their number of teeth and their number of children w6x. Asso-
ciation does not mean causation, and the concept that dental
minerals are recycled to benefit fetal bone formation was put
to rest long ago w22x, but many women apparently still
believe this w16x. Yet, for about a decade now w39x, the pro-
verb has been twisted around. Pregnancy may endanger teeth
far less than teeth and their periodontal environment in par-
ticular, may endanger pregnancy w8, 48, 54x. There is also
conclusive evidence now that transmission of cariogenic
microbes from mother to child, even before tooth eruption,
is a crucial element in the development of caries in their
children w49, 50x, with serious consequences for their well-
being w14x.
Introduction
Folk wisdom has linked dental health with childbirth for time
immemorial. ‘‘A tooth for a child’’ has an equivalent in
many languages w6x. Its implication is that the demands of
pregnancy include the loss of a tooth, with some studies
showing an inverse relationship in older women between
their number of teeth and their number of children w6x. Asso-
ciation does not mean causation, and the concept that dental
minerals are recycled to benefit fetal bone formation was put
to rest long ago w22x, but many women apparently still
believe this w16x. Yet, for about a decade now w39x, the pro-
verb has been twisted around. Pregnancy may endanger teeth
far less than teeth and their periodontal environment in par-
ticular, may endanger pregnancy w8, 48, 54x. There is also
conclusive evidence now that transmission of cariogenic
microbes from mother to child, even before tooth eruption,
is a crucial element in the development of caries in their
children w49, 50x, with serious consequences for their well-
being w14x.
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