Dear Lactnet,
    I was too lazy to jump in on the recent tooth thread and am thrilled to
see Shauna Farmer's great post.
    The points she makes are excellent, especially the part, IMO, on oral
hygiene and the preventive role LC's can play to remind moms to "wipe off"
those newly erupting teeth.
    I worked as a chairside asst/hygienist in one of the South's busiest
practices for years and saw tons of early decay in babies.  When people talk
about "soft teeth" they are sometimes referring to hypoplasia of the enamel
and these teeth (often anterior) are sitting ducks for rampant decay
regardless of breast/bottle, sweet/water, nighttime or not.  If there are no
existing defects in the enamel, a good cleaning with a terry cloth, baby
brush etc. disrupts the strep. mutans and plaque formation if done
effectively once a day.
    So, if a mom is being forewarned by a well-meaning doc or dentist, she
can assure him that even though the baby is nursing at night that she is
scrupulously cleaning those new chompers.
    Restorative dentistry costs thousands of dollars in a lot of cases
(pulpotomies, fillings and/or pedo crowns) and if the teeth have to be
extracted the toddler can be "toothless" for 5-7 yrs for anterior teeth and
9-11 years for molars.
    Good hygiene (and I know they arch their backs and fight it!) is worth it
preventatively or even if damage has already occurred.  Research supports
that weaning is not the answer.
    Thanks again, Shauna.

Jan Ellen Brown, RDH, IBCLC
in beautiful summery Charlotte, NC

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html