Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life and Cosleeping: The Role of Nocturnal Breastfeeding

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the association between cosleeping and the number of breastfeeding sessions in infants, OHRQoL of the child and the family, and the DMFT Child’s index. The sample comprised 273 children (2–4 years old). In addition to the clinical examination of the child to assess the DMFT Index, the mother was requested to complete a questionnaire to collect data about the breastfeeding practice, diet, dental hygiene, dental check-ups, quality of the child’s oral life, and family impact (ECOHIS Scale). The children’s OHRQoL is positively correlated with number of night-time breastfeeding sessions at 12 months (r2 = 0.40 **), DMFT index (r2 = 0.60 **), impact family (r2 = 0.65 **), and duration of cosleeping (r2 = 0.36 **). The moderating effect explained 41% of OHRQoL; the interaction between the number of breastfeeding sessions at 18 months and the DMFT index significantly increased the coefficient of determination. A longer practice time for cosleeping was associated with an increase in breastfeeding sessions, a higher impact on OHRQoL, a higher family impact, and a higher DMFT index. More than three night-time breastfeeding sessions moderate the relationship between the DMFT index and the child’s OHRQoL.

Keywords

• breastfeeding
• cosleeping
• oral-health-related quality of life
• early childhood caries
• oral health
• child relations