Orthodonic practitioners beware! If your patients are breastfeeding, don't get your hopes up that their child may need alignment treatment. A new study published in Pediatrics® concluded that exclusive breastfeeding for a child's first six months or longer may reduce the risk of malocclusion by as much as 72 percent; predominant breastfeeding may reduce malocclusion significantly as well but pacifier use may negate the reduction.
Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as nourishment that is obtained with no other food or drink, not including water, only breast milk. Predominant breastfeeding includes nutrients from sources other than breast milk.
Collected data on breastfeeding and pacifier use among a group of 1123 children in a Brazilian birth cohort; they recorded breastfeeding status at the ages of 3, 12 and 24 months, and then checked the alignment of teeth later in their lives at age five. Alignment was categorized as open bite (OB), crossbite, overjet (OJ) and moderate/severe malocclusion (MSM). Use of a pacifier and its duration was also tracked to determine its affects.
The results clearly showed that predominant breastfeeding reduced the chance of a child developing OB, OJ and MSM, and pacifier use negated that probability. The findings were also similar regarding exclusive breastfeeding. Infants who had been exclusively breastfed from three to six months had a 44 percent lower prevalence of OB and exhibited a 72 percent lower frequency of MSM when compared to data from children who had never been breastfed.
Breastfeeding is already recommended as the primary nourishment for infants to protect against myriad diseases and disorders. This study shows that breastfeeding is a natural and effective strategy for preventing malocclusions, as well.
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