News

UI researchers receive grant to study tooth decay in adolescents

Published on September 16, 2014

A new $302,000 grant entitled “Secondary Analyses of Adolescent Caries, Including Fluoride, Diet, and Other Factors” has been awarded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. The two-year award will support detailed secondary data analyses of patterns of dental caries (tooth decay)  incidence from age 13 to 17 years among children in the Iowa Fluoride Study; support will also include complex analyses of the longitudinal predictors of dental caries incidence that include demographic factors, previous caries experience, fluoride intake and exposures, and dietary intakes and patterns.

The principal investigator is Steven Levy, Wright-Bush-Shreves Endowed Professor of Research, Preventive and Community Dentistry, and professor, epidemiology, College of Public Health. Co-investigators include John Warren, and Teresa Marshall, Preventive and Community Dentistry, and Joseph Cavanaugh, Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health.

The Iowa Fluoride Study cohort has been followed and studied since their birth through recruitment of the mothers in 1992-95; the young adults are now aged 19-22. Several previous NIDCR grants have supported this unique longitudinal study. The age 17 dental examinations and related questionnaire data collection recently were supported by grants from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust and Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation, without whose support this NIDCR grant award would not have been possible.