Should I even bother mentioning BF to my dentist?

[Hokulele]

I'm heading to the dentist ... ugh!

From what I've read online (thank you MDC and KellyMom!) pretty much anything they can do to me at the dentist won't affect my breast milk. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that!

So now I'm wondering if there is a reason to mention it to the dentist at all. My reasons for not mentioning it include:
- I know often docs and dentists don't know much about BFing so maybe he'd give me wrong info anyway.
- My nursling DD is 22 months old and I just don't feel like having that conversation about nursing a toddler (I live in a very unenlightened area). And people always ask how old your child is when you mention you are nursing.

Is there a reason to mention BFing at the dentist or should I just go in feeling confident that everything they do is safe for BFing moms?

[ms sig]

I don't think there's any reason why you'd have to mention it specifically. I don't think they would, but if they ask for some reason I wouldn't lie either. I don't see any harm in telling the truth here. And if the idea of nursing a toddler weirds them out, it's not your problem. The more people that share that that's what they do, the more it will be normalized in our society.

[Hokulele]

Oh no, I wouldn't lie about it.

I just get the feeling that the people who work at this dentist's office would not understand the whole toddler nursing thing. Normally I'm pretty ok with telling people, but not when I'm sitting in a chair with my mouth wide open. Ugh! I'm nervous about seeing the dentist!

[mamaw/two]

I let my dentist know because she uses a different numbing medicine that does not speed up the heart (she says the other kind will transfer to baby), it wears off much quicker so dentists don't use it unless they need to in fear of it wearing off while they are working (I've never had that happen). If I were just going for a cleaning and checkup, I wouldn't mention it. I also wouldn't get any mercury fillings removed (like if they need to be refilled or you have another cavity in the same tooth) while bfing, because you will get a big load of it in your system when removed and it will pass through your milk.

[JenBuckyfan]

I had to go in to get a cavity filled that my dentist had found when I was pregnant. I asked the assistant if the numbing medication was compatible with breastfeeding and she said she'd ask the dentist. (When I was in there while pregnant I found out the dentist's wife had 1 1/2 year old twins - so I felt he could relate, maybe...) When the dentist came in and asked if I had any questions, I just asked if the drug was compatible with breastfeeding and he shared the half-life of the drug with me and how long he figured it'd be in my system. If you are going in for just a cleaning, as a pp mentioned, I wouldn't bother telling them. If you have to have a procedure done, I say it never hurts to ask and I'd tell myself that asking (even if putting the doctor on the spot and he/she doesn't know it, it might trigger an 'oh, maybe I should look into that' education moment for the doctor) is better than worrying. Most everything I've read says dental work is no big deal while bf so in the end I wouldn't worry much anyways.

[diamond lil]

Very timely question for me. I have a cleaning scheduled for tomorrow morning and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a filling. I'm breastfeeding a 20 month old.