Influența comportamentului alimentar timpuriu asupra riscului de dezvoltare a unui palat dur gotic

This paper investigates the relationship between early feeding and oral behaviors in infants and the risk of developing a high-arched (gothic) hard palate — a deformity frequently associated with prolonged habits such as pacifier use or thumb sucking. The study was conducted on a sample of 41 children, using a quantitative, non-experimental research design, including both correlational and differential analyses. Data included the duration of breastfeeding, pacifier use, and thumb sucking, analyzed using JASP software. Spearman’s correlation revealed significant positive relationships between pacifier use and thumb sucking with the degree of palatal deformation, and a negative relationship with breastfeeding duration. No significant gender differences were identified. The results underline the importance of early monitoring of oral behaviors to prevent orofacial malformations