Breastfeeding supports the normal development of a baby’s jaw, teeth, facial structure, and speech. The activity of breastfeeding helps exercise the facial muscles and promotes the development of a strong jaw and symmetric facial structure. Breastfeeding also promotes normal speech development and speech clarity. An increased duration of breastfeeding is associated with a decreased risk of the later need for braces or other orthodontic treatment. One study showed that the rate of misaligned teeth (malocclusion) requiring orthodontics could be cut in half if infants were breastfed for one year (Palmer 2008). Bottle-feeding requires a different tongue action than breastfeeding does, and over time may affect the growth and development of oral and facial tissue. Sucking on bottle nipples, pacifiers, and even thumbs and fingers can eventually affect the shape of a baby’s palate, jaw, teeth, and facial structure. In this presentation, Position and action of the tongue during breastfeeding, dental expert Dr. Brian Palmer shows how breastfeeding promotes normal facial development and provides illustrations showing what happens inside the mouth during bottle- and breast feeding (Warning: Slide 2 of the presentation shows a picture of a cross section of the mouth of a human cadaver for illustrative purposes).
