Bottle-feeding and malocclusion: is there an association?

To determine whether there is an association between bottle-feeding and malocclusion, a case control study was conducted by means of a questionnaire sent to the parents of 737 patients aged 10 to 12 years from a large private pediatric dental practice. Questions included method and duration of infant feeding, type of nipple used, pacifier use, sucking habits, history of orthodontic treatment, and parental orthodontic history. Analysis of valid responses (N = 454) showed need for treatment to be associated only with history of parental orthodontic treatment (P less than 0.05). A trend toward association of bottle-feeding with need for orthodontic treatment was found in the increasing need for treatment with increasing exposure to bottle, but was of marginal significance (P = 0.058).