ASSOCIATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES WITH BREASTFEEDING AND BOTTLE FEEDING IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIAN CHILDREN OF PRESCHOOL AGE.

Early childhood caries constitute one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among children which have been found to be related to infant feeding practices.to determine the association of early childhood caries with breastfeeding and bottle-feeding practices among children of preschool age.Information about oral health, infant feeding and other child and family characteristics were obtained through structured interviewer administered questionnaire from mothers of preschool children. Intra-oral examination of the children was done and dental caries status was recorded according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Statistical analyses of association of early childhood caries with various categorical variables were performed using chi-square. A logistic regression analysis was also performed with factors that were significant. P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Of the 302 children in this study, 44% were solely breastfed, 2% were solely bottle-fed while 54% were both breastfed and bottle-fed. Statistical analysis showed that ECC significantly increased with night time bottle feeding (OR=4.5, p=0.001, CI=1.8-11.1), whereas it was significantly lower in children who were breastfed for 3 to 6 months (OR= 0.1, p<0.001, CI=0.03-0.18) as compared to those who were breastfed greater than 12 months duration.. This study has shown that breastfeeding for the first 3 - 6 months of life is associated with low incidence of dental caries while babies solely bottle-fed and night time bottle feeding are associated with high incidence of childhood dental caries.