Lead exposure increases risk of cavities

Moss

E nvironmental lead exposure appears to increase the risk of cavities in children, adolescents, and adults in the United States, according to findings published in the June 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers at the University, together with colleagues at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati, estimate that about 11 percent of the tooth decay seen in children today may be due to moderate or high levels of lead exposure.

"Some 2.7 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 may have increased susceptibility to tooth decay because of lead exposure," said epidemiologist Mark Moss, assistant professor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and the study's lead author. Moss, also a researcher in the Eastman Department of Dentistry, conducted the study with Bruce Lanphear, associate professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati, and Peggy Auinger, a data analyst at Children's Hospital at Strong Memorial Hospital and at Rochester General Hospital.

The team made the finding by combing through data collected on nearly 25,000 individuals, ages 2 and older, who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey was conducted from 1988 to 1994 by the National Center for Health Statistics to assess the health and nutritional status of children and adults in the United States. Moss and Lanphear found that even after adjusting for diet, dental care, and other social and demographic factors, an increased amount of lead in the blood meant an increased risk of tooth decay. The finding proved true for all age groups and for both baby and permanent teeth.

In the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, Moss and Lanphear found that in children, each increase in blood levels of lead of 5 micrograms per deciliter boosted risk of tooth decay 80 percent. In their paper, Moss and Lanphear note that the region of the United States with the highest lead pollution--the Northeast--also is where dentists see the highest rates of tooth decay.

The results reinforce the announcement two years ago by another Rochester team that while lead does not actually cause cavities, it appears to make rats--and thus people, whose teeth get cavities in an identical manner--much more susceptible.