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How Baby Teeth Could Help Predict Mental Disorders

Researchers are examining tiny stress lines in baby teeth for risks of developing mental illness.

By Matt Benoit
Apr 25, 2022 11:00 AMApr 26, 2022 4:31 PM
Baby teeth
(Credit: MIA Studio/Shutterstock)

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In some childhoods, the loss of baby teeth means a visit from the Tooth Fairy, providing children with their first monetary gains.

Several recent studies, however, suggest that baby teeth might provide children with something far greater than cash: The knowledge of their risk for developing a mental illness.

The examination of growth marks in baby teeth may help determine a child’s risk for depression or other mental disorders later in life, suggests a November 2021 study, published in the Journal of American Medical Association’s JAMA Network Open.

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