Maternal malnutrition of calcium in last second trimester pregnancy affecting early childhood caries

Background: Calcium is essential for muscle contraction, bone formation and enzyme/hormone functioning, and deficiency during pregnancy can have an impact on oral health, such as early childhood caries. 

Purpose: To provide an overview of the effect of calcium malnutrition in last second trimester pregnancy in order to educate people about the malnutrition affecting early childhood caries. 

Materials and Methods: This research is a literature review of up to 20 journals on the subject from different sources. Review or progress articles that were published in these journals between 2013 and 2023 were chosen.

Results: The electronic search through databases and the manual search through literature allowed us to identify some journals that support the criteria. The included studies evaluated the relationship between early childhood caries with calcium intake or vitamin D supplementation. 

Conclusion: Early childhood caries are affected by calcium intake during pregnancy. Deficiency of micronutrients, either calcium or other associated such as vitamin D, especially at the second last trimester, increase in the risk of developing dental caries in comparison with children whose mothers were in the balance diet group.