Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Division of Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
J Public Health Dent. 2023 Sep;83(4):381-388. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12591. Epub 2023 Nov 2.
Childhood caries is associated with poorer self-rated general health in adulthood, but it remains unclear whether that holds for physical health and aging. The aim of this study was to identify whether age-5 caries is associated with (a) biomarkers for poor physical health, and (b) the pace of aging (PoA) by age 45 years.
Participants are members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study birth cohort. At age 45, 94.1% (n = 938) of those still alive took part. Data on age-5 caries experience and age-45 health biomarkers were collected. The PoA captures age-related decline across the cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, immune, dental and pulmonary systems from age 26 to 45 years. We used (a) generalized estimating equations to examine associations between age-5 caries and poor physical health by age 45 years, and (b) ordinary least squares regression to examine whether age-5 caries was associated with the PoA. Analyses adjusted for sex, perinatal health, childhood SES and childhood IQ.
High caries experience at age-5 was associated with higher risk for some metabolic abnormalities, including BMI ≥30, high waist circumference, and high serum leptin. Those with high caries experience at age-5 were aging at a faster rate by age 45 years than those who had been caries-free.
Oral health is essential for wellbeing. Poor oral health can be an early signal of a trajectory towards poor health in adulthood. Management for both conditions should be better-integrated; and integrated population-level prevention strategies should be foundational to any health system.
儿童龋齿与成年后自我评估的总体健康状况较差有关，但尚不清楚这是否与身体健康和衰老有关。本研究的目的是确定 5 岁时的龋齿是否与（a）身体健康不良的生物标志物，以及（b）45 岁时的衰老速度（PoA）有关。
参与者是达尼丁多学科健康和发展研究队列的成员。在 45 岁时，仍有 94.1%（n=938）的人参加了研究。收集了 5 岁时龋齿经历和 45 岁时健康生物标志物的数据。PoA 从 26 岁到 45 岁，捕捉心血管、代谢、肾脏、免疫、牙齿和肺部系统与年龄相关的衰退。我们使用（a）广义估计方程来检查 5 岁时龋齿与 45 岁时身体健康不良之间的关联，以及（b）普通最小二乘回归来检查 5 岁时龋齿是否与 PoA 有关。分析调整了性别、围产期健康、儿童社会经济地位和儿童智商。
5 岁时高龋齿经历与某些代谢异常的风险增加有关，包括 BMI≥30、高腰围和高血清瘦素。5 岁时龋齿严重的人比无龋齿的人在 45 岁时衰老速度更快。
口腔健康对健康至关重要。口腔健康不良可能是成年后健康状况恶化的早期信号。两种疾病的管理都应更好地结合；并应将综合的人群预防策略作为任何卫生系统的基础。
