Effects of Breast Feeding and its Impact on Oral Health―A Review

During infancy and early childhood,breastfeeding is one of the most important activities.For the first six months of life,the only source of nutrition for a healthy infant is breast milk as specified in the policy statement of the AAP section. It is beneficial to both mother and the child.To infants it offers ideal nutrition, resistance to infectious diseases, enhanced immune systemsince it contains secretory immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG),reduced risk of chronic diseases and allergy,physical and developmental growth benefits.The most common infection encountered during childhood is Acute otitis media (AOM),commonly referred to as middle ear infection.In US, children aged through 0 to 4 years, the health care visits with AOM as primary diagnosis was 575 per 1000 visits in 2007. AOM begins as an upper respiratory tract infection that can lead to Eustachian tube dysfunction which can eventually result in hearing loss in children[1,3]To mother,the benefits of breast feeding include increased physiologic postpartum recovery and reduced long term risk of obesity,osteoporosis and breast and ovarian cancers[1]. As recommended by HHS Healthy people 2010 goals, one of the consequences of continued breastfeeding beyond six months is compromised dental health. However there is no valid link has been made between breastfeeding and dental cavities^[1,4].