It's highly unlikely that this mother is not making enough antibodies in
her milk.  More likely scenarios that might be the cause of her
daughter's decay include:

inadequate tooth brushing (toddlers take in more than just breastmilk,
and the other stuff needs to be brushed from their teeth twice a day)

poorly formed tooth enamel from maternal illness or fever during pregnancy

early colonization with strep mutans due to contact with adult saliva
(parents licking pacifier clean, sharing food, kissing baby's lips, etc)

inactivation of milk lactoferrin by supplemental iron (lactoferrin is
active against strep mutans, iron in iron fortified cereal and vitamin
drops saturates lactoferrin and greatly reduces or eliminates it's activity.

Give mom the info, and let her focus on the things she can do to improve
her child's dental health: tooth brushing; making sure the adults in the
house are treated for any decay they have to reduce their strep mutans
levels; and keeping things that go in the baby's mouth OUT of adult (or
other child) mouths.


--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  New York City  mailto:[log in to unmask]

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