Relationships Between Infant Birth Weight and Maternal Mastication Ability, Caloric Intake and Prepregnancy Body Mass Index of Women with Posterior Tooth Loss

Objective: To analyze the relationships between infant birth weight and maternal mastication ability, caloric intake, and body mass index (BMI) of women with posterior tooth loss. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 52 females aged 20–35 years who gave birth recently and had one or more unreplaced missing posterior teeth. The number and locations of the missing teeth were grouped on the basis of the Eichner Index. Prepregnancy BMI, caloric intake, and subjective mastication ability were recorded. Results: A significant difference was observed in the mean infant birth weights between the subjects with good and poor mastication in Eichner A2 (p<0.001), B1 (p=0.039), and B2 groups (p=0.039), that mean infant birth weight was lower in the group of women with poor mastication. The Pearson correlation test revealed a significant relationship between maternal caloric intake and infant birth weight (p<0.001). Mean infant birth weights differed between BMI categories, i.e., underweight, normal and overweight women subjects (2.59 ± 0.18 Kg, 2.99 ± 0.15 Kg, 3.58 ± 0.30 Kg) (p<0.001). The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed significant differences between the prepregnancy BMIs of pregnant women with posterior tooth loss and infant birth weights (p<0.001). Conclusion: We found that decreased subjective mastication ability in pregnant women who lost posterior teeth was associated with decreased infant birth weight, whereas higher mean caloric intake and higher prepregnancy BMI in pregnant mothers who lost posterior teeth were associated with increased infant birth weight.