The importance of breastfeeding in bone development and oral health in children: a systematic review

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months or continued breastfeeding until 2 years or more. In addition to providing nutritional and immunological benefits, breastfeeding can aid in the development of breathing, swallowing, speech, chewing, and even help reduce early childhood caries. Objective: It was to present the main considerations of the importance of breastfeeding for children's oral health through a concise systematic review. Methods: The systematic review rules of the PRISMA Platform were followed. The search was conducted from October to December 2025 across the Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, PubMed, ScienceDirect, SciELO, and Google Scholar databases. The quality of the studies was assessed using the GRADE instrument, and the risk of bias was evaluated according to the Cochrane instrument. Results and Conclusion: According to the GRADE instrument, most studies presented homogeneous results, with X2 = 80.4% > 50%. A total of 87 articles were found and submitted for eligibility analysis, with 12 final studies selected to compose the results of this systematic review. Considering the Cochrane tool for risk of bias, the overall assessment resulted in 12 studies with a high risk of bias and 21 studies that did not meet GRADE and AMSTAR-2 standards. It was concluded that breastfeeding contributes to bone and muscle growth, leading to facial harmony, correct positioning of teeth and tongue, and aiding breathing and speech. The sucking action the baby needs to perform during breastfeeding stimulates the development of the jawbones. The child also develops nasal breathing and tongue positioning. However, current studies show that prolonged breastfeeding, beyond 12 months, may increase the incidence of tooth decay.