Having a large family is linked to tooth loss according to a large European study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. To reach this conclusion, researchers from the University of Radboud, in the Netherlands, used data from the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe dubbed SHARE. This European survey contains information on the health, level of education and household income of more than 120,000 adults aged 50 and over 27 countries in Europe and Israel.
A child in addition detrimental to the mother but not to the father
On average, adults have 28 teeth plus 4 wisdom teeth. But adults in the SHARE study reported an average of ten fewer teeth, ranging from nearly 7 fewer teeth for women between 50 and 60 to 19 fewer teeth for men aged 80 and over. Pushing the statistics further, they found that mothers of three had on average four fewer teeth than mothers of two.
“This study provides new evidence of the causal links between the number of children and the number of missing teeth. An additional birth may be detrimental to the oral health of the mother but not that of the father” underline the researchers who recommend that particular attention be paid to oral health and food for expectant mothers.
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