Table 8: Bivariate association of various predictors and higher mutans scores

Oral health variables		Children with MS score 0		Children with MS score 1 and 2		pa-value
Weaning		4-6 months - 30		4-6 months - 49		0.065, not significant
		6-8 months - 3		6-8 months - 18
Toothbrushing		Yes - 15		Yes - 37		0.40
		No - 18		No - 30
Bottle-feeding		6-12 months - 21		6-12 months - 25		0.019, significant
		12-24 months - 12		12-24 months - 42
Breastfeeding		<8 months - 23		<8 months - 39		0.04, significant
		8-10 months - 8		8-10 months - 28
		>10 months - 2		>10 months - 0
Daily intake of sugars		No - 17		No - 18		0.02, significant
		Yes - 16		Yes - 49
Sugars in feeding bottle		No - 15		No - 12		0.007, significant
		Yes - 18		Yes - 55
Bottle at night		No - 15		No - 18		0.07
		Yes - 18		Yes - 49
Gender		Male - 8		Male - 24		0.265
		Female - 25		Female - 43
Mean age of child		3.09 years		2.96 years		0.59b

^aChi-square test; independent student’s t test