Researchers on Tuesday published a study arguing that microscopic markings in the baby teeth of children show signs of trauma, and hope to conduct large-scale screening soon, The Boston Globe reports.
“As a scientist, you are always trying to place bets on what kind of work will make the most impact, and how you can develop better tools to prevent mental health problems in the future,” said Erin C. Dunn, assistant professor at Massachusetts General Hospital, who led scientists from Mass. General, the Forsyth Institute and the University of California San Francisco in conducting the tooth study.
Dunn’s team published their research in Biological Psychiatry on Tuesday, describing how certain moments in a child’s life can be imprinted on their teeth, with growth marks typically appearing within the first few years. These growth marks can develop in baby teeth on a daily or weekly basis up until about the age of two, and in permanent teeth up until the age of 16. However, traumatic childhood experiences might affect that process, causing abnormal marks to form within days of the stressful incident.
Although most baby teeth are disposed of after they come out, Dunn and her team suggest that baby teeth be saved and analyzed in the hopes that one day the markings can indicate a child’s susceptibility to illnesses caused by trauma. Dunn’s team hope to perform large-scale screening on the teeth of children born to mothers in the Boston area a year before or shortly after the Boston Marathon bombing.
“This allows us to look at the potential impact of the bombing during these two different life stages,” Dunn said.
The researchers hope to see if the mothers’ proximity to the bombing left signs of trauma in the children, but they do not plan to see if any of the children end up developing mental health issues.
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