Complementary Feeding as a Risk Factor for Early Childhood Caries in 18-48 Month Old Children - A Case Control Study

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between complementary food introduction time and pattern among children suffering from early childhood caries (ECC). Methodology: A sample of 394 child-mother pairs were included in this study.18-48 month old school children were divided in to cases and controls based on the presence of ECC. A validated questionnaire was used to find the association between complementary feeding practices and ECC. Results: Analysis of data demonstrated that the mean deft score of the cases to be 4�2.9. An association between ECC and complementary food introduction time (P=0.75), complementary feed along with breast feeding (P=0.15), sharing utensils (P=0.68), Frequency of complementary food (P=0.73), type of complementary food (P=0.56) and additional sugar (P=0.32) was found. Conclusion: Complementary feeding practices were not found to be a potential risk factor for ECC. However, the importance of the complementary feeding practices and oral health cannot be overlooked.