Pacifier Sucking Habit and its Relation to Dental Caries and Type of Feeding Habits among Group of Children (Comparative Study)

Objective This study was conducted to investigate the severity of dental caries among children with pacifier sucking habit and to assess the effect of this habit on the type of feeding in those children. Methods The study was carried out among 100 child aged 1-5 years old (50 children with continuous pacifier sucking habit (study group), compared to 50 children without any sucking habit (control group) matching the study group in age and gender). The parents were asked to fill an information sheet concerning general health and type of feeding of their children. Clinical examination were done for both groups of children (study and control) to determine their caries activity. Results The prevalence of dental caries was 56 % for the total pacifier sucking children, however, it was only 10 % in the non-pacifier sucking children. This study demonstrated that 8 % of pacifier sucking children were breast fed compared to 70 % of non- pacifier sucking children, meanwhile bottle feeding was the predominant feeding type among pacifier sucking children. Conclusion A significant difference was present between the two groups in caries experience of primary dentition by which the pacifier sucking group demonstrated higher caries experience. Breastfeeding was predominant among the non-pacifier sucking group, whereas bottle feeding was the predominant among pacifier sucking children.