So what does cause the cavities?

[AlmostAPpropriate]

Hi,

I am wondering, if it's not the breastmilk in mouth all night, what IS causing the cavities?

On MDC I just cant imagine you moms loading your kids up with candy & sodas.

When I took DS to the dentist he did say something about cavities being "contagious". Something like "oh, you DH has lots of cavities, well good thing you are the one with them most of the day.... blah blah, from your mouth..blah blah.." I was dealing with DD so it went in one ear and out the other.

[BugMacGee]

I do worry about cavities from BF'ing at night. Seems very reasonable to me that it could cause them.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

BFing helps prevent caries not cause them. What does cause them is when solids enter the mix. Not to mention some kids just get the bad tooth gene in my kids case ds did but dd did not. Both nursed exactly the same and weaned exactly the same age.

What your dentist was talking about was that the bacteria that cause caries live in your mouth and by kissing, eating, drinking after your child you can pass those bacteria onto the child.

I dont have the link for the Article on why bfing dosnt cause caries but if you search my name in dental you should be able to find the link on it.

Also even IF bfing caused caries the benifits far outweigh that risk IMO

[PatioGardener]

Here's an article

http://brianpalmerdds.com/bfeed_caries.htm

[Mandynee22]

They are contagious, so to speak- like mouth kissing, sharing toothbrushes etc. It's bacteria, after all :-)
*I* think that the nursing cavities might be from not brushing everything out before bed or whatever and then nursing, but that's just my opinion :-) There was something that I read about how nursing and solids are worse than just nursing (because that's actually beneficial) but I don't remeber where I saw it

[aprilv]

i do think it's heredity, to a degree at least. this is anecdotal, but i am so careful about my teeth- i floss and brush at least 2 times a day, i stay away from sugary foods, etc- but i ALWAYS have had tons of cavities. my dentist recently told me it's because of how my teeth are shaped because it makes me more cavity prone. all of my siblings, my parents, grandparents... all have cavity problems.

my dh? he brushes his teeth 'when he remembers', flosses so infrequently that he couldn't find the floss because didn't realize i had put the floss in a new spot (after it had been in the new spot for a month)-- yet he has NEVER had a cavity. Several of his siblings and cousins have never had a cavity either.

taking good care of my teeth keeps the cavities manageable, but i have accepted i will probably always have them....

[annettemarie]

Moving to dental health

[annettemarie]

Also, you may want to check out this Mothering article:
Big Bad Cavities: Breastfeeding Is Not the Cause

[flowmom]

Cavities are not contagious, but the bacteria that cause them, Streptococcus mutans, is. Most children get the bacteria from their mothers and mothers who have more of the bacteria tend to pass on more to their children.

Nighttime breastfeeding past twelve months has been shown to be a risk factor for early childhood caries (cavities) in Myanmar (regardless of dental hygiene) and in other developing nations. Of course the research hasn't been done in Europe and North America due to low extended breastfeeding rates. Nighttime breastfeeding doesn't cause cavities, but in combination with other risk factors it can be a problem for some toddlers. My pro-BF dental assistant from a holistic practice did say that she has observed improvements in ECC (early cavities) following toddlers nightweaning. I know this is not a popular opinion around here - I didn't want to believe it myself but I couldn't ignore the research. I did nightwean my 23 mo dd because of ECC. Fortunately, I think she's getting just as much breastmilk as she did before , but nothing between 9 PM and sunrise.