Dental caries and prolonged breast‐feeding in 18‐month‐old Swedish children

Abstract

Summary. Three thousand children aged 18 months were screened for dental caries and ongoing breast‐feeding at 46 child welfare centres in different parts of Sweden. Of these, 200 children were selected for a more comprehensive examination, involving investigation of dietary, toothbrushing and sucking habits, use of fluoride, and determination of salivary levels of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli. The children were divided into four groups: group 1: children with caries not being breast‐fed; group 2: children with caries being breast‐fed; group 3: caries‐free children being breast‐fed; group 4: caries‐free gender‐ and age‐matched reference children not being breast‐fed. The results showed that 63 of the children (2.1%) had caries and 61 (2.0%) were still being breast‐fed. Twelve (19.7%) of the 61 children still being breast‐fed had caries compared with 51 (1.7%) of the 2939 children not being breast‐fed; the difference was statistically significant. Children with caries and still being breast‐fed had a mean defs of 5.3, and those with caries not being breast‐fed 4.9; the difference was not statistically significant. Children with caries, irrespective of whether they were being breast‐fed or not, had significantly higher numbers of cariogenic food intakes per day than caries‐free children. Mutans streptococci were detected in 67% of the children and lactobacilli in 13%. Children with detectable mutans streptococci and lactobacilli had significantly more caries than those without. The results indicate that Swedish children with prolonged breast‐feeding have a tendency to establish unsuitable dietary habits which constitutes a risk situation for developing caries at an early age.

Breastfeeding, Dental Biofilm Acidogenicity, and Early Childhood Caries

“…These studies involving children have shown that ECC is associated with increases in the proportions of acidogenic bacteria and high acidogenic potential, in agreement with the ecological plaque hypothesis of caries [Marsh, 2006]. Considering that the presence of S. mutans in biofilms in ECC is associated with a high level of sucrose exposure [Parisotto et al, 2010[Parisotto et al, , 2015, our data suggest that ECC children are subjected to additional dietary sugar challenges than only lactose from milk [Hallonsten et al, 1995]. However, ECC and caries-free children did not differ regarding resting biofilm pH.…”

The Effect of Prolonged and Exclusive Breast-Feeding on Dental Caries in Early School-Age Children

“…0.001) and a significantly higher incisors, similar to classic 'nursing bottle caries' in bottlefed infants [Gardener et al, 1977;Kotlow, 1977;Brams and Maloney, 1983]. Some investigators have observed an increased risk and severity of caries associated with prolonged breast-feeding and night breast-feeding [Matee et al, 1994;Hallonsten et al, 1995;Weerheijm et al, 1998;Dini et al, 2000;Sayegh et al, 2004]. A systematic review of controlled human studies comparing different modes of infant feeding, however, found a poor quality of published studies and no conclusive evidence of beneficial or harmful effects of breast-feeding [Valaitis et al, 2000].…”

Diagnostic and Preventive Approaches for Dental Caries in Children: A Review

“…The length of breast and bottle feeding may play a role to caries development. Various studies have been demonstrated late weaning e.g., between 12 and 36 months was associated with caries (27).…”