Breastfeeding and early childhood caries: a critical review

Feeding habits as determinants of early childhood caries in a population where prolonged breastfeeding is the norm

“…An initial analysis of our data indicated that ECC were more likely to occur in children who were solely breastfed than in other children. However, multivariable analysis indicated that the role of feeding method diminished and, in line with two recent papers (10,25), neither breastfeeding per se nor its duration was related to ECC.…”

“…Feeding during the night may lead to prolonged exposure to fermentable carbohydrates and create dentally harmful environments in the oral cavity (6,8,10,(28)(29)(30)(31)(32). In the current study, after controlling for all other variables the burden imposed by milk-bottle feeding at night appears to constitute a strong risk factor for the development of ECC.…”

“…The higher scores indicated a higher sugar intake. The sum of these scores, ranging from 0 to 12, described daytime sugar intake as low (0-5), moderate (6), and high (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12).…”

Breastfeeding and the risk of dental caries: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The relationship between breastfeeding and dental caries has been systematically (17) and narratively reviewed (18)(19)(20) with conflicting results between studies. There is controversy about what constitutes the best form of infant feeding to prevent dental caries and promote optimal dental health (21).…”

Association between prolonged breast‐feeding and early childhood caries: a hierarchical approach

“…Contesting the hypothesis that breast milk could be cariogenic, anthropological (20,21) and scientific evidence from in vitro (21) and in situ (22) studies demonstrated that breast milk has no cariogenic potential as long as it is used as the only source of carbohydrate. In addition, some epidemiological studies (3,11,23,24) were unable to demonstrate a relationship between breast-feeding and ECC, and systematic literature reviews reported a questionable association between breast-feeding after 1 year and the establishment of caries (25)(26)(27).…”