Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Life Course Oral Health Epidemiology

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Oral Epidemiology

Part of the book series: Textbooks in Contemporary Dentistry ((TECD))

Abstract

Several theoretical models have been proposed to explain how harmful and beneficial ill-health effects interact over the life course. This chapter describes the main theories of life course epidemiology and how they can be applied to oral health research. Empirical examples of the application of life course theories steam from the Pelotas, Brazil, birth cohort studies are presented. We aimed to demonstrate the value of life course oral epidemiology in core areas of research such as the role of socio-economic position during the life course and oral health, later on, the relationship between oral and general health, and the predictive models of oral health outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Kuh D, Ben-Shlomo Y, Lynch J, Hallqvist J, Power C. Life course epidemiology. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57(10):778–83.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Hertzman C. The biological embedding of early experience and its effects on health in adulthood. In: Adler N, Marmot M, Mcewen BS, Stewart J. Socioeconomic status and heath in industrial nations: social, psychological and biological pathways. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999;896:86–95.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kawachi I, Berkman LF. A historical framework for social epidemiology. In: Kawachi I, Berkman LF, editors. Social epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press; 2000. p. 3–12.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bartley M. Health inequalities: an introduction to theories, concepts, methods. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press; 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Richter M, Blane D. The life course: challenges and opportunities for public health research. Int J Public Health. 2013;58(1):1–2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Nicolau B, Thomson WM, Steele JG, Allison PJ. Life-course epidemiology: concepts and theoretical models and its relevance to chronic oral conditions. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2007;35(4):241–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Blane D, Netuveli G, Stone J. The development of life course epidemiology. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique. 2007;55:31–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Barker DJ. Fetal origins of coronary heart disease. BMJ. 1995;311(6998):171–4.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Eriksson JG. The fetal origins hypothesis—10 years on. BMJ. 2005;330(7500):1096–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Risnes KR, Vatten LJ, Baker JL, Jameson K, Sovio U, Kajantie E, et al. Birthweight and mortality in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 2011;40(3):647–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. De Boo HA, Harding JE. The developmental origins of adult disease (Barker) hypothesis. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2006;46(1):4–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kuh D, Richards M, Wadsworth M, Hardy R. Cohort profile: the 1946 National Birth Cohort (MRC National Survey of Health and Development). Int J Epidemiol. 2005;35(1):49–54.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Mann SL, Wadsworth MEJ, Colley JRT. Accumulation of factors influencing respiratory illness in members of a national birth cohort and their offspring. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1992;46:286–92.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. A conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health. Discussion paper for the Commission on Social Determinants of Health – Last version. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Thomson WM, Williams SM, Broadbent JM, Poulton R, Locker D. Long-term dental visiting patterns and adult oral health. J Dent Res. 2010;89(3):307–11.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Listl S. Inequalities in dental attendance throughout the life-course. J Dent Res. 2012;91(7 Suppl):91S–7S.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Crawford C, Johnson P, Machin S, Vignoles A. Social mobility: a literature review. In: Economic policy reforms 2010: going for growth. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kuh D, Wadsworth M. Childhood influences on adult male earnings in a longitudinal study. BJS. 1991;42:537–55.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hemmingsson T, Lundberg I, Diderichsen F. The roles of social class of origin, achieved social class and intergenerational social mobility in explaining social-class inequalities in alcoholism among young men. Soc Sci Med. 1999;49:1051–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Corcoran ME, Chaudry A. The dynamics of childhood poverty. Futur Child. 1997;7(2):40–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. OECD A broken social elevator? How to promote social mobility, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2018.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Bartley M, Blane D, Montgomery S. Socioeconomic determinants of health: health and the life course: why safety nets matter. BMJ. 1997;314:1194–201.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Smith GD, Hart C, Blane D, Gillis C, Hawthorne V. Lifetime socioeconomic position and mortality: prospective observational study. BMJ. 1997;314:547–58.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Power C, Hertzman C, Matthews S, Manor O. Social differences in health: life-cycle effects between ages 23 and 33 in the 1958 British Birth Cohort. Am J Public Health. 1997;87(9):1499–503.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Smith GD, Hart C, Blane D, Hole D. Adverse socioeconomic conditions in childhood and cause specific adult mortality: prospective observational study. BMJ. 1998;316:1631–5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Hart CL, Smith GD, Blane D. Inequalities in mortality by social class measured at 3 stages of the lifecourse. Am J Public Health. 1998;88(3):471–4.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Power C, Matthews S, Manor O. Inequalities in self-rated health: explanations from different stages of life. Lancet. 1998;351(9108):1009–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Davis-Kean PE. The influence of parent education and family income on child achievement: the indirect role of parental expectations and the home environment. J Fam Psychol. 2005;19(2):294–304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Kelly Y, Sacker A, Del Bono E, Francesconi M, Marmot M. What role for the home learning environment and parenting in reducing the socioeconomic gradient in child development? Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. Arch Dis Child. 2001;96(9):832–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Hart B, Risley TR. Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore: Brookes; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Broadbent JM, Thomson WM, Poulton R. Trajectory patterns of dental caries experience in the permanent dentition to the fourth decade of life. J Dent Res. 2008;87(1):69–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Sheiham A, Sabbah W. Using universal patterns of caries for planning and evaluating dental care. Caries Res. 2010;44(2):141–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Hausen H. Caries predictors – state of the art. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1997;2(1):87–96.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Sheiham A, Watt RG. The common risk approach: a rational approach for promoting oral health. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2000;28:399–406.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Peres MA, Listl S, Heilmann A. Lifecourse oral health epidemiology. In: Watt RG, Listl S, Peres M, Heilmann A, editors. Social inequalities in oral health: from evidence to action. London: International Center for Oral health Inequalities Research and Policy, University College London; 2015. p. 16–7.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Poulton R, Caspi A, Milne BJ, Thomson WM, Taylor A, Sears MR, Moffitt TE. Association between children’s experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health: a life-course study. Lancet. 2002;360(9346):1640–5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Thomson WM, Poulton R, Milne BJ, Caspi A, Broughton JR, Ayers KM. Socioeconomic inequalities in oral health in childhood and adulthood in a birth cohort. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2004;32(5):345–53.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Crocombe LA, Broadbent JM, Thomson WM, Brennan DS, Poulton R. Impact of dental visiting trajectory patterns on clinical oral health and oral health-related quality of life. J Public Health Dent. 2012;72(1):36–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Shearer DM, Thomson WM, Caspi A, Moffitt TE, Broadbent JM, Poulton R. Family history and oral health: findings from the Dunedin Study. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2012;40(2):105–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Shearer DM, Thomson WM, Broadbent JM, Poulton R. Does maternal oral health predict child oral health-related quality of life in adulthood? Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2011;7(9):50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Shearer DM, Thomson WM, Caspi A, Moffitt E, Broadbent JM, Poulton R. Inter-generational continuity in periodontal health: findings from the Dunedin family history study. J Clin Periodontol. 2011;38(4):301–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Barros FC, Victora CG. Maternal and Children Health in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 1982–1993: A Decade of Transition. [Editorial]. Cad Saúde Pública. 1996;12(Suppl1):4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Barros FC, Victora CG. Commentary: a tale of many cities in one: the Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohorts, 1982–2015. Int J Epidemiol. 2019;48(Suppl_1):i89–93.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Peres MA, Liu P, Demarco FF, Silva AER, Wehrmeister FC, Menezes AM, Peres KG. Income trajectories affect treatment of dental caries from childhood to young adulthood: a birth cohort study. Braz Oral Res. 2018;32:e36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Peres MA, Peres KG, Thomson WM, Broadbent JM, Gigante DP, Horta BL. The influence of family income trajectories from birth to adulthood on adult oral health: findings from the 1982 Pelotas birth cohort. Am J Public Health. 2011;101(4):730–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Schuch HS, Peres KG, Demarco FF, Horta BL, Gigante DP, Peres MA, et al. Effect of life course family income trajectories on periodontitis: birth cohort study. J Clin Periodontol. 2018;45:394–403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Schuch HS, Nascimento GG, Peres KG, Mittinty MN, Demarco FF, Correa MB, et al. The controlled direct effect of early life socioeconomic position on periodontitis in a birth cohort. Am J Epidemiol. 2019;188:1101–8.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Peres MA, Nascimento GG, Peres KG, Demarco FF, Menezes AB. Oral health-related behaviours do not mediate the effect of maternal education on adolescents’ gingival bleeding: a birth cohort study. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2018;46(4):317–27.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Correa MB, Peres MA, Peres KG, Horta BL, Barros AJ, Demarco FF. Do socioeconomic determinants affect the quality of posterior dental restorations? A multilevel approach. J Dent. 2013;41(11):960–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Collares K, Opdam NJ, Peres KG, Peres MA, Horta BL, Demarco FF, Correa MB. Higher experience of caries and lower income trajectory influence the quality of restorations: a multilevel analysis in a birth cohort. J Dent. 2018;68:79–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Bartold PM. Opportunistic dentistry is harming our credibility. Aust Dent J. 2018;63:269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Pihlstrom BL, Hodges JS, Michalowicz B, Wohlfahrt JC, Garcia RI. Promoting oral health care because of its possible effect on systemic disease is premature and may be misleading. J Am Dent Assoc. 2018;149:401–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Leite F, Peres MA, Nascimento GG. Is the misinterpretation of association and causation a never-ending story? Aust Dent J. 2019;64:201–202.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Peres KG, Barros AJ, Peres MA, Victora CG. Effects of breastfeeding and sucking habits on malocclusion in a birth cohort study. Rev Saude Publica. 2007;41(3):343–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Peres KG, Cascaes AM, Peres MA, Demarco FF, Santos IS, Matijasevich A, et al. Exclusive breastfeeding and risk of dental malocclusion. Pediatrics. 2015;136(1):e60–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Peres KG, Nascimento GG, Peres MA, Mittinty MN, Demarco FF, Santos IS, Matijasevich A, et al. Impact of prolonged breastfeeding on dental caries: a population-based birth cohort study. Pediatrics. 2017;140(1):e20162943.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Nascimento GG, Peres MA, Mittinty MN, Peres KG, Do LG, Horta BL, et al. Diet-induced overweight and obesity and periodontitis risk: an application of the parametric G-formula in the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort. Am J Epidemiol. 2017;185:442–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Nascimento GG, Leite FRM, Peres KG, Demarco FF, Corrêa MB, Peres MA. Metabolic syndrome and periodontitis: a structural equation modeling approach. J Periodontol. 2019;90(6):655–662.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Peres MA, Sheiham A, Liu P, Demarco FF, Silva AE, Assunção MC, Menezes AM, Barros FC, Peres KG. Sugar consumption and changes in dental caries from childhood to adolescence. J Dent Res. 2016;95(4):388–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Cheng TL, Johnson SB, Goodman E. Breaking the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage: the three-generation approach. Pediatrics. 2016;137(6):e20152467.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  61. Shearer DM, Thomson WM, Caspi A, Moffitt TE, Briadbent JM, Poulton R. Family history and oral health: findings from the Dunedin Study. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2013;40(2):105–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Goettems ML, Nascimento GG, Peres MA, Santos IS, Matijasevich A, Barros AJD, et al. Influence of maternal characteristics and caregiving behaviours on children’s caries experience: an intergenerational approach. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2018;46(5):435–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Shmueli G. To explain or to predict. Stat Sci. 2010;25(3):289–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Peres MA, Barros AJ, Peres KG, Araújo CL, Menezes AM. Life course dental caries determinants and predictors in children aged 12 years: a population-based birth cohort. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2009;37(2):123–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Peres KG, Peres MA, Thomson WM, Broadbent J, Hallal PC, Menezes AMB. Deciduous-dentition malocclusion predicts orthodontic treatment needs later: findings from a population-based birth cohort study. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2015;147:492–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Leite FR, Peres KG, Do LG, Demarco FF, Peres MA. Prediction of periodontitis occurrence: influence of the classification, sociodemographic and general health information. J Periodontol. 2017;88:731–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Baelum V, Lopez R. Defining a periodontitis case: analysis of a never-treated adult population. J Clin Periodontol. 2012;39:10–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Correa MB, Peres MA, Peres KG, Horta BL, Gigante DP, Demarco FF. Life-course determinants of need for dental prostheses at age 24. J Dent Res. 2010;89(7):733–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • Journal of Development Origins of Health and Disease (JDOHaD) is a multidisciplinary journal which publishes work in developmental programming, foetal and neonatal biology and physiology, early life nutrition, particularly during the first 1,000 days of life, human ecology and evolution and gene-environment interactions. The journal also publishes articles that address the social determinants or education of health and disease risk as they relate to the early life period, as well as the economic and health care costs of a poor start to life.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt TE, Belsky DW, Danese A, Poulton R, Caspi A. The longitudinal study of aging in human young adults: knowledge gaps and research agenda. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2017;72(2):210–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peres MA, Barros AJ, Peres KG, Araújo CL, Menezes AM, Hallal PC, Victora CG. Oral health follow-up studies in the 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study: methodology and principal results. Cad Saude Publica. 2010;26(10):1990–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Peres KG, Peres MA, Demarco FF, Tarquínio SB, Horta BL, Gigante DP. Oral health studies in the 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort: methodology and principal results at 15 and 24 years of age. Cad Saude Publica. 2011;27(8):1569–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silva PA, Stanton W, editors. From childhood to adult: the Dunedin multidiscipinary health and development study. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Dunedin Study webpage. https://dunedinstudy.otago.ac.nz/.

  • The Pelotas birth cohort studies webpage. http://www.epidemio-ufpel.org.br/site/content/studies/.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Dental Research Institute, National Dental Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Marco A. Peres

  2. ACP Oral Health, Health Services and Systems Research Programme, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

    Marco A. Peres

  3. National Dental Research Institute Singapore, National Dental Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Karen Glazer Peres

  4. ACP Oral Health, Health Services and Systems Research Programme, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

    Karen Glazer Peres

  5. Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil

    Flavio Fernando Demarco & Marcos Britto Correa

  6. Graduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil

    Flavio Fernando Demarco & Marcos Britto Correa

  7. Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (UCL), London, UK

    Anja Heilmann

Authors
  1. Marco A. Peres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karen Glazer Peres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Flavio Fernando Demarco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marcos Britto Correa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Anja Heilmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco A. Peres .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Dental Research Institute, National Dental Centre Singapore, Singapore

    Marco A. Peres

  2. School of Public Health, University of São Paulo Faculty of Public Health, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jose Leopoldo Ferreira Antunes

  3. Dept. of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

    Richard G. Watt

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Peres, M.A., Peres, K.G., Demarco, F.F., Correa, M.B., Heilmann, A. (2021). Life Course Oral Health Epidemiology. In: Peres, M.A., Antunes, J.L.F., Watt, R.G. (eds) Oral Epidemiology. Textbooks in Contemporary Dentistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50123-5_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50123-5_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-50122-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50123-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation