Dental Caries And Feeding Patterns In 2-5 Year Old Children In Hubei Province

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between caries prevalence and feeding patterns in 2-5 year old children in Hubei province.Materials and Methods: 1603 children aged 3-5 year old from kindergarten of urban and suburb in Wuhan city were clinically examined according to the WHO oral survey methods. The feeding patterns of these children in infants were collected by a very short questionnairs which were given to the mothers.40 children aged 2-3 year old were randomly assigned to breast feeding group and nursing-bottle feeding group according to the difference of feeding patterns. Saliva of children were collected by methods of spitting saliva. The levels of anti-S.mutans Ingbritt S-IgA, IgM and IgG in saliva were analysised by ELISA. The Flouride electrode and ICP-AES were used to detect the levels of 8 trace elements (Ca, F, Zn, Fe, Mg, Cu, K,Na).426 children aged 2-4 year old were randomly selected from kindergartens in one suburban area of the city of Hanchuan in HubeiProvince. Dental caries of these children were checked and recorded. A form included question about infant feeding, duration of breast-feeding, and about the level of parental education and family income. Parents, of all children examined, completed the questionnaire form. The influence of risk factors on development of dental caries was assessed by Logistic regression.Results: The results from 1603 children showed that caries prevalence of primary teeth in nursing-bottle feeding group(73.22%) were higher than those in breast feeding group(37.21%), whether in city or in suburban.The levels of anti-S.mutans Ingbritt S-IgA in breast feeding group were higher than those in nursing-bottle feeding group (p<0.05), but those of IgG and IgM were not significant difference in both groups (p>0.05).The levels of F, Ca, Zn and Cu in saliva of children were significant difference between breast feeding group and nursing-bottle feeding group. The levels of F , Zn and Cu in breast feeding group were higher than those in nursing-bottle feeding group, contrary to the levels of Ca.Children who had been wholly bottle-fed had 5 times the risk of having rampant caries compared to children who were breast-fed, there was no statistically signficant relationship between level of mothers' education or family income with caries prevalence and patterns of disease.ConcIusions:Caries prevalence of children of breast feeding were lower than those of nursing-bottle feeding. The levels of anti-S.mutans Ingbritt S-IgA and F in children of breast feeding were higher than those in nursing-bottle feeding. These suggested that breast feeding in infants had certain preventive effects on dental caries of children.