Nursing habits and early childhood caries in children attending Hospital University Science Malaysia (HUSM)

• Main Authors: Widowati Witjaksono, Mon Mon Tin Oo, Khamisah Awang Kechik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universitas Airlangga 2006-06-01
• Series: Dental Journal: Majalah Kedokteran Gigi
• Subjects: early childhood caries; nursing habits; nursing bottle
• Online Access: http://e-journal.unair.ac.id/index.php/MKG/article/view/1096

<span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>The habit of nocturnal bottle or breast-feeding has been reported to be a potential cause for early childhood caries (ECC) in </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>very young children. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of ECC in children 2-5 years of age attending out patient </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>clinic HUSM, in relation to the nursing habits. In this cross-sectional study, 90 children were randomly selected to examine their </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>caries status using torch and disposable mirror. Data on mothers’ educational level, nursing habits and oral hygiene practices, were </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>gather by using structured questionnaire. It has been found that 16.7% of subjects were caries free while 83.3% of them had caries </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>with mean dmf score 6 (SD 5.3). With regard to nursing habits, 29% of subjects had breast-feeding alone, 16% had bottle-feeding </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>alone and 55% had both breast and bottle-feeding. Ninety-three percent of children had been nursed beyond 14 months and 47% had </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>been fed with liquids other than breast milk, infant formula or water. Twenty-seven percent of children were allowed to sleep with </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>nursing bottle in mouth and 52% were allowed to sleep with breast nipple in the mouth which shows significantly associated with </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>ECC (p = 0.03). Tooth brushing habit was reported for 91% of children using toothpaste. Mean age of the children (in months) when </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>the mothers started brushing the teeth was 19.1 (SD 10.8) and has significant association with ECC (p &lt; 0.05). This study demonstrates </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>that the habit of allowing infants to sleep with breast nipple in their mouth and the late start of tooth brushing are associated with </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>prevalence of ECC. Educational programs for pregnant women and mothers of young children should be emphasized to enhance the </em><span style="font-family: TribuneItalic; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><em>knowledge and awareness of mothers in preventing ECC.</em></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>