What’s new for the clinician – summaries of recently published papers (February 2024)

Abstract

The first thousand days of life refer to the period between conception and 24 months of life and it is a critical period in which foundations for the healthy development of the child are laid, having a huge impact on the health of unborn babies, infants and young children. Pregnancy and the postpartum period are considered a phase where women have an increased vulnerability to mental disorders. Studies have shown that around 12% of pregnant women experience depression in the antenatal period and the prevalence of postpartum depression ranges from 10%- 15%.1 These psychiatric disorders are not only associated with poor maternal health but also with negative effects on children, affecting the cognitive development and behaviour.1 Studies have also shown that there is a strong correlation between the oral health knowledge, practice and behaviour of the mother and the oral health status of the young child. Mothers who have poor oral health often have children who have higher levels of early childhood caries (ECC). Mothers with mental disorders have also been shown to be unable to take care of their own health optimally thereby also placing the health (and oral health) of their children at risk. Due to a lack of longitudinal studies investigating the influence of maternal depressive disorders on the occurrence of child’s dental caries, da Fonseca Cumerlato and colleagues from Brazil (2023)1 reported on a study that sought to investigate the effect of the trajectory of maternal depressive disorders in the first thousand days of the child’s life on the prevalence of early childhood dental caries at 48 months of age in a birth cohort.