Maternal Knowledge Regarding Feeding Practices and its Effect on Occlusion of Primary Dentition in Children: A Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Infant feeding practices are an important factor influencing malocclusion in deciduous dentition, which can have long-lasting negative outcomes on oral health-related quality of life. Hence, knowledge, attitudes and cultural practices of mothers are vital in prevention of this. OBJECTIVE: The present study was carried out to assess the mother's knowledge about feeding practices and its influence on primary dentition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study was a cross-sectional study of 187 mothers of 3- to 5-year-old children identified with malocclusion, conducted in the pedodontics department of tertiary care teaching dental hospital in South India. RESULTS: Majority of the mothers were graduates (31.6%) or undergraduates or postgraduates (42.8%). The duration of breastfeeding was 0–3 months in 9.1%, 3–6 months in 23%, 6–12 months in 30.5%, and >12 months in 37.5%. Bottle-feeding was reported by 21.4%. Only 52.4% of the mothers were aware about caries, and 66.2% were aware of malocclusion. The prevalence of malocclusion was 63.6% in study population, and the prevalence of caries was 30.5%. The most common type of malocclusion was overjet seen in 20.9% of study subjects. The proportion of children with crowding, open bite, and crossbite was 17.1, 15, and 10.7%, respectively. There was a gradually increasing trend in malocclusion awareness with increasing educational status of the mother which was statistically not significant (p value = 0.119). The proportion of malocclusion was highest in children who received breastfeeding between 3 months and 6 months and was highest (69.8%) in children who received bottle-feeding for more than 12 months. None of the factors had shown a statistically significant association with malocclusion in study population. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of malocclusion is high in children, and mothers’ awareness regarding malocclusion is poor. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: There is a need to educate mothers about proper feeding practices to prevent dental malocclusion. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Duraisamy V, Pragasam AX, Vasavaih SK, et al. Maternal Knowledge Regarding Feeding Practices and its Effect on Occlusion of Primary Dentition in Children: A Cross-sectional Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(1):31–34.