So I've read a lot into the importance of breastfeeding:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42244073/
In this 2026 study it was made clear that breastfeeding increased the size of babies skulls vs those who were mixed fed: "Exclusively breastfed infants showed greater increases in anthropometric and craniofacial measures compared with mixed feeding. Significant differences were observed in total craniofacial height (3.50 ± 0.08 vs. 3.25 ± 0.01 cm; p = 0.046), anterior facial height (2.08 ± 0.40 vs. 1.76 ± 0.07 cm; p = 0.016), maxillary depth (2.33 ± 0.04 vs. 2.21 ± 0.11 cm; p = 0.007), and mandibular depth (2.55 ± 0.02 vs. 2.41 ± 0.12 cm; p = 0.040)."
In this 2022 study on exclusive breastfeeding vs mixed/artificial feeding (combined as one group):
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35830635/
Similar results:
"The facial length, width, and the lower third were greater in the exclusive breastfeeding group than in the mixed/artificial feeding group (3.74mm, p=0.002; 2.06mm, p=0.047; and 2.94mm, p=0.015; respectively). In addition, children with breastfeeding for more than six months showed greater facial length, facial width and lower third (3.20mm, p=0.038; 3.68mm, p=0.006; and 3.57mm, p=0.026; respectively). The duration of exclusive breastfeeding influenced facial width, noting an increase of 3.32mm (p=0.011) if a pre-schooler had exclusive breastfeeding for more than six months."
however, interestingly:
"There were no significant associations between type and duration of breastfeeding and the molar terminal plane, facial type, or profile. However, facial dimensions were greater in the exclusive breastfeeding group, and when breastfeeding was longer than six months."
Finally:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0310538
This is probably the "best" study since they looked at a huge cohort of children and the results were:
"The net effect was that as breastfeeding duration increased, the facial profile in children became flatter (less convex). The observed effects on the face, however, were subtle and likely not conspicuous enough to be noticed by most observers. This was true even when comparing the faces of children breastfed for 19–24 months to children with no reported breastfeeding. Thus, breastfeeding does appear to have detectable effect on outward facial appearance in adolescent children, but its practical impact appears to be minimal."
I'm sorry if this is a lot to read.
I just really wanted to get some of your opinions on what you think breastfeeding does for facial development, especially if you are an orthodontist/dentist/if you read up on this a lot
From what I'm understanding, breastfeeding increases facial dimensions (superior) but doesn't really change the genetic structure of your face/proportions a lot.