Association of Emergence Time of First Deciduous Tooth with Anthropometric Measurements among Infants of Kolar District, Karnataka

Abstract

Introduction: Tooth eruption is an important milestone of human growth and development. In the past few years, a delayed emergence of the deciduous tooth is observed. Anthropometric measurements are an important tool used to assess infants’ growth and development. Objective: To study the association of emergence time of first deciduous tooth with height, weight (Wt), and head circumference (HC) among infants of Kolar District. Materials and methods: An observational study comprising 154 infants between the age group of 5 and 12 months was considered. Infants with the presence of at least one emerging first deciduous tooth brought to the Hospital of Kolar district for routine vaccinations were examined. Data were collected for a period of 6 months. Infants were subjected to anthropometric measurements that comprised of HC, Wt, and length (Lt) recorded along with birth weight (BW) for further analysis. Statistical analysis was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 21. The student’s t-test was used for assessment of statistical significance. Results: Of the 154 infants examined, tooth emergence (TE) age of lower central incisor (LCI) in females was 8.26 ± 1.81 months and males were 8.74 ± 1.20 months which was not very statistically significant, however, for upper central incisor (UCI) males showed an earlier age of TE. Infant’s BW, HC, Wt, and Lt did not prove to be statistically significant for TE of LCI. Alternatively for UCI, HC and Wt were found to be inversely proportional to the age of TE. Conclusion: In general, the assessment of TE with anthropometric measurements carried out did not show any significant association with an infant’s growth and development. However, there is scope for further studies with a larger sample size that can include additional parameters of assessing nutritional status.