A follow-up study was conducted of a double-blind trial in Argentina designed to assess the effect of calcium supplementation on incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Six hundred fourteen women received 2 g per day of calcium or placebo from week 20 of gestation until delivery. Dental examinations were performed on 195 randomly selected children whose mothers participated in the study. The researchers who performed the dental exam were blinded to the mothers treatment assignment. The proportion of children who had at least 1 decayed, missing, or filled tooth was significantly lower in the calcium group than in the placebo group (63.3% vs. 86.6%; p < 0.001). The mean number of decayed, missing, or filled tooth surfaces was also significantly lower in the calcium group than in the placebo group (3.1 vs. 4.4; p < 0.001).
Comment: Calcium plays an important role in tooth development The results of the present study indicate that calcium supplementation during pregnancy can reduce the incidence of dental caries in the offspring at 12 years of age.
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14 November 2011