New research has revealed that expectant mothers with low levels of vitamin D may affect the dental health of their infants.
Research carried out at the University of Manitoba found that low levels of vitamin D in pregnant women may be putting their infants at an increased risk of childhood tooth decay .
The vitamin D levels of 206 women in their second trimester of pregnancy were analysed and only 21 (10.5 per cent) of the women found to have had adequate levels of the vitamin .
High levels of vitamin D were related to the frequency of milk consumption and prenatal vitamin use.
The researchers also examined 135 infants and found that 21.6 per cent of them had enamel defects and 33.6 per cent had early childhood tooth decay .
Mothers of infants with enamel defects had lower, but not considerably different, mean vitamin D concentrations during pregnancy than mothers of infants without enamel defects, while mothers of infants with early childhood tooth decay had significantly lower vitamin D levels than mothers of cavity-free infants.
Infants with enamel defects were significantly more likely to have early childhood tooth decay, the research team added.
