Insufficient Sleep and Incidence of Dental Caries in Deciduous Teeth among Children in Japan: A Population-Based Cohort Study

To examine whether late bedtime and short nighttime sleep duration at age 18 months are associated with risk of caries in deciduous teeth. Population-based cohort study using health check-up data of 71 069 children born in Kobe City, Japan, who were free of caries at age 18 months and had information on sleep variables at age 18 months and records of dental examinations at age 3 years. Sleep variables were assessed by standardized parent-reported questionnaires, and the incidence of caries in deciduous teeth was defined as the occurrence of at least 1 decayed, missing, or filled tooth assessed by qualified dentists without radiographs. Logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of late bedtime and short sleep duration on dental caries with adjustment for clinical and lifestyle characteristics. Overall, 11 343 (16.0%) cases of caries were observed at age 3 years. aORs for children with late or irregular bedtimes compared with those with bedtimes before 21:00 were 1.26 (95% CI 1.19-1.33), 1.48 (1.38-1.58), 1.74 (1.58-1.92), 1.90 (1.58-2.29), and 1.66 (1.53-1.81) for bedtimes at 21:00, 22:00, 23:00, 0:00, and irregular bedtime, respectively. aORs for children with short or irregular sleep duration compared with those with sleep duration of ≥11 hours were 1.30 (95% CI 1.15-1.47), 1.16 (1.09-1.24), 1.11 (1.05-1.18), and 1.35 (1.25-1.46) for sleep duration of ≤ 8, 9, 10 hours, and irregular sleep duration, respectively. In this exploratory study, late bedtime and short sleep duration were both consistently associated with increased risk of caries in deciduous teeth.