Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of infant feeding methods on the subsequent growth of the inter canine width and the development of the bite force in children.
The questionnaire survey and oral examination were conducted with 338 children from 3 yrs to 5yrs old and their parents. The subjects were classified by feeding method during the first three months after birth into three groups, a breast-fed, bottle-fed, and a mixed-fed group. The inter-canine width of both jaws, the bite force between the upper and lower 2nd primary molars and the def teeth rate were calculated, and compared among the three groups.
The results obtained were as follows:
1) The inter-canine width in each jaw was found to show no significant differences among the three groups in all age groups. The rate of the inter-canine width was designated by the formula: the lower/upper×100(%), which was also found to show no significant differences among the three groups at each age.
2) There was no significant difference in the bite forces among the three groups at each age. These findings suggest that infant feeding methods up to three months after birth wer e not able to effect on the growth of bite force and inter-canine width namely the inter-canine width at all.
