Breastfeeding beyond 24 months of age could be a risk for higher childhood caries experience.

DESIGN

Cohort study design.

COHORT SELECTION: Children from the Birth Cohort Study who attended a 48-month follow-up were included in the study.

DATA ANALYSIS: Caries was (caries is not plural. It is the name of the disease) measured using decayed-missing-filled surfaces (dmfs) index score. Relative excess risk due to interaction (PERI) was used to assess the interaction between breastfeeding and processed food consumption.

RESULTS

Breastfeeding for prolonged periods was found to be associated with higher experience and prevalence of early childhood caries. Caries prevalence was higher in children who consumed higher amounts of processed food.

CONCLUSIONS

Prolonged breastfeeding and high consumption of processed food were associated with early childhood caries. Both seem to affect caries independently, as there was no observed interaction.