Pregnancy stress accelerates infant dental development, study finds

Stress makes us age faster. This also happens to babies when their mothers experience high levels of stress during pregnancy, writes salute.eu.

According to a study, the baby teeth of infants born to stressed mothers emerge earlier, CE Report quotes ATA.

Babies have 20 milk teeth, 10 in each jaw.

This dentition is important for chewing and speaking, and it also helps maintain space for the 32 permanent teeth that will follow.

Milk teeth begin developing in the womb around the sixth week of pregnancy and gradually emerge between six months and three years after birth.

However, the timing varies widely due to factors such as genetics, overall health, and the baby’s nutritional status.

Now, American researchers have demonstrated for the first time that another factor can accelerate this process: maternal stress during pregnancy.

“We show that higher levels of stress-related hormones, particularly cortisol, in mothers during late pregnancy are associated with earlier emergence of milk teeth in the child,” emphasizes Ying Meng, Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, University of Rochester.