Biological plausibility of the relationship between
breastfeeding and malocclusion
Some mechanisms have been proposed to explain the
hypothetical protective effect of breastfeeding on malocclusion.
The process of sucking differs between children who
are breastfed and those who are fed from a bottle. Children
who are breastfed present greater facial muscle activity than
those who are bottle-fed, thus promoting more adequate
craniofacial growth and development of jaw bones (3,4).
The movement of lips and tongue during breastfeeding
forces the child to draw breast milk through a squeeze
action, while for children who are bottle-fed the movement
for obtaining the milk is more passive; therefore, there is
greater potential to develop a malocclusion (5). In addition,
the nipple of the infant feeding bottle is usually made from a
less flexible material, which can press the interior of the oral
cavity and may cause inappropriate alignment of teeth and
the transverse growth of the palate