DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2015.v03i02.017

Pages: 617-619

The aim of the study was to evaluate the awareness of pregnant females and mothers regarding breastfeeding and its effects on oral health and occlusion among children. The study included a total of 120 females, visiting as outpatients in various wards like that of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Paediatrics, K.S. Hegde Hospital and Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Dental Hospital, Mangalore. A questionnaire was designed and filled wherin all females were interviewed in detail after taking proper consent. In this study the mean age of sample was 31 years, the study shows that almost all mothers (100%) considered breastfeed to be the best for their child but (91.7%) considered 6 months to be the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Very few were mothers (88.3%) were counseled regarding benefits of breastfeeding by doctors. 25% did bottle feeding to their child and more them half (48.3%) of them knew about the benefits of breast feeding on oral health of the child. Majority of them (66.7%) were unaware that improper breastfeeding can develop malocclusion in children. There is very little awareness regarding the benefits of exclusive breast feeding on preventing malocclusion. The proposed study strived to identify the barriers in breast feeding and reveal to the parents its effects on occlusion in order to prevent in a timely manner as malocclusion are are not only very problematic to treat but also expensive.