On the Relationship between Deciduous Tooth Eruption and the Stature and Weight of Infants

Abstract

There is a fairly large body of literature concerning the influence of bodily growth and environmental factors on the eruption of teeth in man. However, studies dealing with tne correlation detween the number of erupted deciduous teeth and the value of bodily growth are comparatively scanty. In the present work. I studied the correlative coefficients of the stature, weight, weight ratio, and increasing rates of both stature and weight in an effort to elucidate the relationship between these body factors and deciduous tooth eruption. By way of study materials, a selective use was made of 5, 119 boy and girl infants of 5 to 18 postnatal months, who were reared in more or less the same family circumstances. At the same time, observations were made of differences, if any, between the firstborns and second-borns. As a result of the study. I arrived at the following conclusions:1. Stature, weight, and their increasing rates. In these categories, boys showed a tendency to be larger than girls in corresponeding postnatal months. The difference became statistically significant after 8 postnatal months. In terms of stature, there was a tendency for the firstborns to be somewhat larger in both boys and girls. 2. Weight ratio. Boys showed a tendency to be laerger than girls in corresponding postnatal months. The first-born group also tended to be laerger. 3. In the number of erupted deciduous teeth, boys showed a larger count than girls after 10 postnatal months. The first-born group showed a larger number of erupted deciuous teeth than the second-born group. 4. In the correlation fetween the number of erupted deciduous teeth and stature and weight, the correlative coefficients became larger in proportion to the postnatal months, but statistical difference was absent in every group. An absence of statistical difference was also seen between the first-born and second-born groups. 5. In the Number of erupted deciduous teeth and increasing rates of stature and weight, boys and girls gave a significant correlation after 6 postnatal months. There was no significant difference between the first-born and second-born groups in either sex. 6. In the correlation between the number of erupted decidous teeth and the increasing rates of stature and weight, the increasing rate of stature was most closely related, followed by the present stature, increasing rate of weight, and present weight in descending order. Therefore, I conclude that there exists a close relationship between the deciduous teeth eruption and the amount of physical growth of infants.