Dear Friends:
    My toddler had terrible cavities discovered at age 2 1/2. The dentist
said that she should not nurse at night. We had a family bed; I couldn't imagine
not nursing at night!
    I did more research.
    For one thing, much of the research about dental caries is poorly done.
There was a meta-analysis published in Quebec (I think, or at least Canada)
that found about 7 decent studies of 159 published. There were no definite
findings one way or another.
    Another dentist that I saw said that there was a genetic predisposition
to cavities. He described a family that he took care of where all children were
bottle-fed, all children drank the fluoridated water, and 5 of the 6 children
had perfect teeth. The 6th had a mouth full of caries. Yet another dentist
talked about the colonisation with bacteria playing a role.
    My daughter had weak enamel. Still does, at age 13. (She nursed until 5
1/2. We went to the dentist every 3 months, as her enamel was so weak that she
could go from a clean tooth to a cap in 6 months!)
    warmly,


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