CORRELATION BETWEEN DURATION OF BOTTLE-FEEDING AND DENTAL ARCH MEASUREMENT IN DECIDUOUS DENTITION

The purpose of this study was to observe the correlation between duration of bottle feeding and dental arch measurement in deciduous dentition. Duration of bottle feeding was divided into 4 groups: ≤ 24 months, 25 – 36 months, 37 – 48 months, and > 48 months. The subjects were 120 kindergarten pupils, aged 3 – 5 years old. Measurements was done on the models of maxilla and mandible with digital caliper for the width and length of dental arch and using flexible curve for dental arch circumference. Pearson correlation showed a weak association for anterior arch width (r=0.206), posterior arch width (r=0.195), and anterior circumference (r=0.206) of maxilla and posterior arch width (r=0.279), anterior circumference (r=0.226) of mandible. One-way Anova was performed to analyze the differences of dental arch measurements among duration of bottle-feeding groups. The results showed that there were significant differences of dental arch measurements for anterior arch width of maxilla, posterior arch width of mandible, and anterior circumference of mandible (p