Infants’ feeding pattern and mothers’ knowledge about fluoride in the college of dentistry, King Saud University

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to investigate the feeding patterns and practices of Saudi mothers who were patients, or parents of patients, being treated at the College of Dentistry at King Saud University (CDKSU) in Riyadh. Secondly, to determine the level knowledge about fluoride in this same sample of patients. Self administered questionnaires were distributed to 500 mothers, of which 357 questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 77.4%. The results showed that most mothers (72.5%), used both breast and synthetic milk in their child's dietary regimen. In addition, 74.3% followed the same feeding pattern with all their children. A large majority (80.7%) fed their infants at night until they fell asleep. Most of the mothers started breast feeding and bottle-feeding during the first 3 months (92.1% and 54% respectively) and continued until the child was aged more than one year (42% and 81.2% respectively). The most commonly used type of milk is powdered milk (72.9%). Regarding knowledge concerning the effects of fluoride on the teeth, the results showed that 57.4% of the mothers were aware of the importance of this element, but 44.8% did not know about the effects of ingesting the fluoride beyond the optimum level. The findings of this study lead to the conclusion that among Saudi mothers, there is a deficiency in knowledge both about the correct feeding practices, and also the role of fluoride in their babies' dental health, especially in understanding the side effects of increased dietary fluoride levels...King Saud Universit