Duration of Breastfeeding and Dental Carries among Young Children in Selected Health Facilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2023-06-11
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Addis Ababa university
Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding has many health benefits for infants, including protection against dental caries. However, the effect of breastfeeding duration on caries risk is unclear, as different studies have found different results. This may depend on multifactorial risk factors of dental caries such as biological, behavioral and socioeconomic factors. However, there is limited evidence on the magnitude and the association between duration of breastfeeding and dental caries among children aged 12 to 36 months in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Objective: This study aims to assess the magnitude of dental caries and the association between the duration of breastfeeding and dental caries among young children aged 12 to 36 months old in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 380 children aged 12 to 36 months from 11 health centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was done from September to December 2021. Questionnaires and dental exams were used to collect data. Dental caries was measured by the deft index. Multinomial logistic regression was used to find the factors related to caries. A p-value ≤ 0.05 and AOR 95% CI were used for significance and interpretation. SPSS software was used for data analysis.
Result: The results showed that the prevalence of dental caries was 53.4%, with 13.7% having high caries and 39.7% having low caries. The factors that were significantly associated with high caries were table sugar intake frequency (AOR=3.24, 95% CI: 1.29, 8.19), tooth brushing frequency of the mother (AOR=0.15, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.93), age of the child (AOR=0.21, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.49) and mother education level (AOR=4.41, 95% CI: 1.37, 14.18). The factors that were significantly associated with low caries were duration of breastfeeding (AOR=2.14, 95% CI: 1.02, 4.50), bottle feeding (AOR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.97) and table sugar intake frequency (AOR=2.00, 95% CI: 1.03, 3.88).
Conclusions: Many children aged 12 to 36 months in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia had dental caries. Different factors such as breastfeeding, sugar intake, tooth brushing, age, mother education and income affected their risk of caries.
Recommendations: Health education programs should teach mothers and children how to breastfeed well, avoid bottle feeding and sugar, and brush their teeth regularly. Also, mother education level should be improved by social policies and interventions to prevent caries.
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Keywords
Dental Caries, Prevalence, Children/Infants, Breastfeeding Duration, ECC, Dmft/Deft, Decay