NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children with cavities may be more likely to have ear infections than cavity-free children, results of a small study suggest.

Due to the size of the study, the results were not statistically significant, but the potential relationship between ear infections and cavities merits further study, the researchers say.

Recent research has raised the possibility that cavities and infections of the inner ear that commonly affect young children may be related. The possibility of such a connection arose in studies of chewing gum containing xylitol. Derived from the bark of birch trees, xylitol is a sweetener that has antibacterial powers and has been shown to prevent tooth decay. A Finnish study also found that xylitol may prevent cases of the ear infection otitis media in children.

Whether children who have cavities in their teeth are also more likely to have ear infections is uncertain, so Natalie A. Nechvatal and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, compared the rate of cavities and ear infections in a group of 97 children aged 2 to 5.

The investigators found that children with dental cavities tended to have more ear infections than children without cavities, but the difference was not statistically significant and could have been due to chance.

There were some noticeable age-related differences, however. In children without cavities, the percentage who had ear infections was fairly consistent across age groups, ranging from 39% in 2- and 3-year olds to 38% in 4-year-olds.

Among children with cavities, however, the proportion of children with ear infections was much higher among the youngest kids, although the difference was not statistically significant. In those with cavities, the rates of ear infections were 71% and 60% in 2- and 3-year-olds, respectively, but the rate was only 41% in 4-year-olds.

Nechvatal reported the findings earlier this month at a meeting of the International Association for Dental Research in San Diego, California.

The study is preliminary, but the researchers recommend that larger trials be conducted to verify the possible link between cavities and ear infections.

Nechvatal and her colleagues also suggest that parents should try not to put young children to bed with a bottle, since this practice was linked to an increased risk of cavities. If a child is reluctant to go to sleep without a bottle, parents may be able to reduce the risk of cavities by filling the bottle with water rather than milk or sweet drinks, they advise.

Reference Source 89

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