Better infant feeding practices, aside from improving oral and other infectious disease outcomes, reduce risk factors for chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer (12). But at the same time, oral health measures supported by findings with a reasonable level of evidence should be incorporated into general health programs (3, 8,37). Recent clinical trials demonstrate that providing fluoride toothpaste and professional use of fluoride early in childhood (38–41) reduces the incidence of early childhood caries. Incorporation of such specific measures into general programs
will potentially improve health and reduce inequalities in high-risk communities