Thin enamel in children could mean they are more likely to develop mental health problems in later life, a new study finds. After analysing the milk teeth primary school children lost, researchers found that they could offer vital clues to their future happiness. This will help people in the future as tooth scans will be able to flag up cases of children with high risk of health issues.
The observations found that children with less enamel recorded higher levels of behavioural problems such as aggression and having problems concentrating. Children with lower volumes of the tooth pulp beneath the enamel were also more prone to difficulties. Furthermore, the link between enamel thickness and behavioural problems was at least as strong as the link with socioeconomic standing, the research found. This suggests that teeth are a better predictor of whether a child will go on to develop mental health issues than family and social status.
A thin layer suggests some kind of early trauma which could, for example, be related to the mother’s nutrition or stress during pregnancy or the child’s experience of these things, according to Erin Dunn, of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “We saw that children who had thinner enamel tended to also have mental health symptoms in the form of what we call “externalizing symptoms” – which are more outwardly observable emotional and behavior problems. So acting out, aggression, inattention, impulsivity. hostility, not paying attention and not listening,” Dr. Dunn said.
However, she is hopeful that her findings can be adapted into a tool to help medics identify children at high risk of mental health problems.
