11 months breastfed baby with yellow teeth – please help

[katarzynka]

 Hello. My name is Kasia and I have a 11 month old beautiful son Filip.  I have been reading posts on this forum for over a year; however, it is my first post that I write because English is my second language. I have a question about using fluoride toothpaste and fluoride gel for my 11 months old son. Today, we went to pediatric dentist because I saw that Filip’s  four top teeth have some yellowish and even brown discoloration. I have been brushing Filip’s  teeth just with baby tooth brush and water since his first teeth come out. And, lately I have been using tooth tissue with xylitol (fluoride free). I am breastfeeding  him on demand – very frequently ( sometimes even 5-6 times during night). I usually give him water to drink, very rarely juice. Filip eats solids( no sugar added); however, he stills prefer breast milk and eats a lot of if. The dentist said that problem with Filip’s teeth is because of my frequent breastfeeding and that I should stop  breastfeed him at night. Also, she gave me fluoride gel for Filip ( to use once a day) in addition to that she told me to brush Filip’s teeth with  toothpaste with fluoride once a day( she said to use my toothpaste just a little bit of it). There is a  note on the gel she gave me that it should not be used by children under 6 years old unless recommended by a dentist. I am really worried about this because I know how important dental hygiene is, and I wish that Filip has healthy, white teeth; however, I do not really want to use Fluoride toothpaste and gel for Filip who is not even 1 year old. Or should I use it? ( there is not fluoride added to our drinking water). Is there any good and safe toothpaste for babies? I am afraid that if I do not use something he will soon have cavities. I do not know what to think about breastfeeding linked to tooth decay. I found contradictory information on the internet. I guess that Filip may have some genetic predispositions like soft enamel because my husband and I have very weak teeth. Do any of you who breastfeed on demand have problems with your baby’s teeth? Should I stop breastfeeding him at night? It will be very difficult……. Any advice and opinion are very appreciated!!! 

[Terrilein]

My gut instinct says to get a second opinion on the fluoride toothpaste - that stuff can be poisonous and babies can't spit it out! - and do NOT night wean. Usually from what I've heard if your child gets cavities despite good oral hygiene then it's unavoidable altogether and not due to night nursing. So night weaning most likely won't solve the issue for you.

Here's an interesting article from this site for you:

http://mothering.com/health/big-bad-cavities-breastfeeding-is-not-the-cause

[P.J.]

Wow, that's tough. I'm sure some more experienced mamas will have better ideas than I would, as my son only has a few teeth recently. I do know there is something like a holistic dentists association, you can google it, and if you're in a city or big town you may be able to find a holistic dentist who can offer advice that does not involve flouride. I would also try hard not to night wean if its otherwise working for you, but I know some say breast milk at night leads to cavities.

Anyway, I wanted to say that your English is excellent! ....and I teach English for a living, I am not just saying that, your level is advanced for sure. Please don't let that stop you from participating in our community. I hope to see you around.

[katarzynka]

Thank you very much.  I am going to look for holistic dentist for Filip and I am not going to stop breastfeeding him at night. Thank you.

[PatioGardener]

I talked to a Health Canada dentist about this and he said:

1) clean teeth twice a day

2) do not share food or cups, baby can get bacteria from mother's mouth with cause tooth decay

3) take the nipple from baby's mouth after he or she falls asleep once there are teeth

4) breastfeed as long as possible, and do not wean at night until the child is ready

Asking in the Health and Healing may give you some more ideas about ways to stop the decay as well.

Sorry you are going through this! 

[memz]

Here is a link from kellymom http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html      

If it were me I wouldn't night wean and I would give my DD fluoride because they're not supposed to swallow that stuff and at that age they don't understand that....

[Shaki]

My DD Had the same issues with her teeth. In any case we saw a great pediatric dentist who was somewhat ap friendly, we still see this dentist and my DD loves her... going to see the dentist is a special treat--if you can believe that one.

We started seeing our dentist at around 9 months old. She suggested night weaning and I told her flat out that night weaning was not an option (you don't have to tell your dentist this if you don't want, ours was cool about it. Anyway dentists are not authorities on nursing. You go ahead and nurse your babe!). She suggested keeping a little cup of water near the bed and having DD take a sip after nursing at night. So that's something to try. I tried this and eventually gave up on it because the whole freaking point of night nursing (for me) was getting DD back to sleep so waking her up to make her drink a glass of water seemed ridiculous to me. Our dentist also gave us a fluoride gel that we applied only on the spots where there was decay every night before bed. And we took DD to see her every 4 months for an in office fluoride treatment. This stopped the decay, and DD has suffered no ill effects from the fluoride. I mean when you are carefully putting it in specific spots on the teeth not much is getting swallowed. When DD was old enough to handle it, our dentist filled in the decayed spots, so now her teeth look clean and white. We now see the dentist every 6 months. We still do not use fluoride toothpaste. I recommend using the fluoride gel carefully, precisely, and daily to stop the decay from progressing. See the pediatric dentist frequently just to keep an eye on things and keep nursing. One final thought the fluoride will cause some discoloration on the areas of decay--from my perspective that is better than rotting, possibly painful teeth. HTH!