The eruption of permanent incisors and first molars in prematurely born children.

The purpose of this work was to examine whether the clinical eruption of the permanent first molars and incisors is affected by pre-term birth. The data applied to 328 prematurely born white and black children and 1804 control children who participated in the Collaborative Perinatal Project (USA) in the early 1960s and 1970s. The dental examinations had been performed in a cross-sectional manner at ages varying from 6 to 12 years in 95 per cent of cases (range 5-14 years). Dental casts were placed in matched pairs by sex, race and conceptional age for comparison of the four clinical stages of eruption of the permanent incisors and first molars between the pre-term and control children. The results showed significantly (P < 0.05) earlier tooth eruption in the pre-term children. The findings suggest that the eruption process is earlier in those teeth that go through a sensitive period circumnatally, being at the pre-eruptive stages and entering the first phases of mineralization under the influence of various neonatal systemic factors and accelerated growth period (catch-up growth) with related unknown mechanisms, which may influence the eruption of the permanent incisors and first molars in prematurely born children.