Breastfeeding and Dental Health

[4Blessings]

I get a week-by-week newsletter from my Dr.'s office by email. I usually just skim it and delete

This week (my baby is 4.5 months) the articles talk about teething and tooth care. This caught my eye...

Don’t let your baby fall asleep with a bottle of anything but water in his mouth, as tooth decay can begin even in early infancy. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists also recommends avoiding on-demand (non-scheduled) breastfeeding after the first tooth comes in to prevent decay.

Seriously? I've never heard this before and it doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe suggesting nightweaning but ANY non-scheduled feeding?

Have you heard this? Perhaps this newsletter was just poorly written? I'd like to send a response to my dr. on this!

[zepchic]

Originally Posted by Proud2BeAnAmerican

I get a week-by-week newsletter from my Dr.'s office by email. I usually just skim it and delete

This week (my baby is 4.5 months) the articles talk about teething and tooth care. This caught my eye...

Don’t let your baby fall asleep with a bottle of anything but water in his mouth, as tooth decay can begin even in early infancy. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists also recommends avoiding on-demand (non-scheduled) breastfeeding after the first tooth comes in to prevent decay.

Seriously? I've never heard this before and it doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe suggesting nightweaning but ANY non-scheduled feeding?

Have you heard this? Perhaps this newsletter was just poorly written? I'd like to send a response to my dr. on this!

DS had 4-5 cavities at this first dentist appt (2yrs) and the dentist blamed it on bfing. Then the lady at WIC said that was ridiculous and probably a result of drinking bottled water (as opposed to fluoridated tap water). Anyway, Dr. Sears has an article on his website about breastfeeding and cavities that I thought was interesting. As for now, I've just decided to not worry about it and keep brushing ds teeth as best as I can.

[goodygumdrops]

I'm not 100% positive about this but my dentist and I were talking the other day about decay. Basically, they explained that anytime you drink or eat the bacteria in your mouth eats the leftover food/drink particles and then consequently begins to excrete waste. This bacterial waste begins to decalcify your teeth, eroding the enamel and eventually leads to decay. LC's maintain that the physiology of the latch prevents breast milk from flooding the teeth and leading to decalcification, ie, the nipple is stretched to the back of the throat which would bypass the teeth. While I am adamantly supportive of breastfeeding, I imagine that even with the physiology of latch, that an infant would still receive small amounts of breast milk in the mouth, which would feed the bacteria that causes decay.

[akind1]

I agree; I often see a little milk in DS's mouth, or it dribbles out, as he is going to sleep at the breast. when he's sucking more vigorously, I don't notice any, or very little.

I think it is possible, then, for the teeth to be exposed to milk. what I might suggest rather than stopping on demand feeding, is trying to get baby not to sleep and suck for an extended period of time.

[AislinCarys]

There are two major studies - one of the American, one Russian, I think - that show no connection between breastfeeding - even longterm - and cavities.

There is also a new Swedish study, someone's Ph.D. thesis, from a the school of dentistry at Umea University, showing that breastfeeding protects against dental caries. There's apparently two types of proteins that prevent bacteria from sticking to the teeth!

Here it is:

http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/rec...d=diva2:306593

[SaoirseC]

My daughter's dentist recommended WEANING at 12 months, and (strangely) putting the baby in a crib to sleep in order to prevent cavities. No mention of prenatal diet or vitamin D deficiency. I take it all with a grain of salt.