[Dental studies on the protective effect of breast feeding]

The frequency of disease for children who were breast fed as babies is lower than that for children who were bottle fed. Breast milk contains specific and nonspecific proteins which act against pathogens. The influence of breast milk on the development of juvenile periodontitis was examined. It was shown that, out of 55 children raised on bottle milk, 9 children up to 14 years of age showed inflammatory changes in the gingiva while only 1 child out of the 17 fed with breast milk during the first few months of life had gingivitis. The lower frequency of gingivitis can probably be explained by the immunopathology of periodontitis.