Mutans Streptococci Colonization in Relation to Feeding Practices, Age and the Number of Teeth in 6 to 30-Month-Old Children: Anin vivoStudy

Abstract

Background: Early childhood caries has been characterized as first affecting the primary maxillary anterior teeth, followed by the involvement of the primary molars. Other terms for dental caries in preschool children, which inappropriately may imply cause for the disease, includes baby bottle tooth decay, nursing caries, milk bottle syndrome, baby bottle caries, nursing bottle mouth and nursing mouth.Aim: To explore the relationships of feeding practices, age and number of teeth present with mutans streptococci colonization in infants.Design and setting: A comparative clinical study conducted on 160 children aged from 6 to 30 months in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital in collaboration with Child Health Institute and Research Center and Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere.Materials and methods: Baseline data collection included: (i) Parents of the infants were asked open ended questions about the baby feeding practices, (ii) The age of the subjects were obtained from the immunization register maintained at Child Health Institute and Research Center and were grouped into group I (6-11 months), group II (12-17 months), group III (18-23 months) and group IV (24-30 months), (iii) Clinical examination of children was done by using mouth mirror and explorer in flash light.6 For each child number and location of erupted teeth was recorded, (iv) Microbial screening for mutans streptococci involved sampling of saliva from each child was performed by placing a sterile wooden tongue blade on the dorsum of the tongue and the number of colony forming units (CFU) were recorded.Results: According to feeding practices, 34 children were in breastfed category, 39 were in baby bottle category and 87 children reported no bottle usage. Out of 160 children examined, a total 142 children were colonized with mutans streptococci. 18 children were found to be colonized with low colony forming units, 78 children were found to be colonized with moderate colony forming units and 64 children were colonized with high colony forming units. In baby bottle group, all of 39 subjects were reported to have sweetened milk, sugar in the bottle.Conclusion: Among different feeding practices, all the three subgroups viz breastfed children, children with nursing bottle usage and children with no bottle usage, all have shown mutans streptococci acquisition. But breastfed children have shown least number of high colony forming units, which is increased in the case of children using nursing bottle and is maximum in the children who were neither breastfed nor fed with nursing bottle. Percentage of children colonized with mutans streptococci increases with age and as the number of teeth increase, number of colony forming units were also found to be increasing.How to cite this article: Sharma R, Prabhakar AR, Gaur A. Mutans Streptococci Colonization in Relation to Feeding Practices, Age and the Number of Teeth in 6 to 30-Month-Old Children: ...

Association of Feeding Methods and Streptococcus mutans Count with Early Childhood Caries: A Cross-sectional Study

“…In studies reported, breastfeeding ranged from 5 to 100%. 11 14 18 19 28 31 33 37 - 39 Bottle-feeding was widely prevalent in most of the studies ranging from 51 to 97.9%, 13 17 21 22 38 40 - 43 whereas maximum mixed feeding (both breast and bottle-feeding) was found in some studies, ranging from 19 to 42.6%. 20 27 32 35 44 …”

Thequantity of Streptococcus mutancolonyin breastfeedandformula milk infant (Jumlah koloni Streptococcus mutan pada bayi peminum air susu ibu dan peminum susu formula)

“…S.mutans colonize the surface of teeth and soft tissues, and will be the cause of disease in the oral cavity. 3,5 Carbohydrates-contained in breast or formula milk have aglycolysis process that will result in fermentation reactions and cause acid pH. This is what triggers the growth of bacteria, particularly S. mutans which were mostly found in the oral cavity.…”

“…This is what triggers the growth of bacteria, particularly S. mutans which were mostly found in the oral cavity. 5 The measuring tool in this research was colony form unit, a method used to calculate the number of colonies of S.mutans. The validity and reliability of this measurement has been tested and has been frequently used in research settings.…”

“…So further research is needed to know the effect of frequency of milk consumption to an increasing number of colonies of S.mutans. 5 Another factor that could affect a high number of colonies of S.mutans on consumption of formula milkwas the use of infant formula milk bottle as medium and direct contact with the oral cavity that needs to be kept clean. Based on questionnaire data from 30 samples of formula milk group, on average, provide answers that the mother of the child clean up a bottle of milk by means of the use of soap and then rinsed with warm water, others answered cleansing with soap, rinsed, then boiled bottle.…”

“…S.mutans colonizes on the surface of the teeth and soft tissues, and this is what will be the cause of the disease in the oral cavity. 3,5 Streptococcus mutan can synthesize extracellular polysaccharide insoluble 1-3bond andthroughhomofermentation process produces acidic compounds of the lactose-solving process that caused the mouth to acid pH. This is what can lead to caries in children, for example,the occurrence of caries that is indirectly caused by the feeding process either through breast milk andinfant formula due to the increased number ofS.mutans,and must be prevented early on to avoid severe damage to children's teeth.…”