Hello Wise Ones,

PTP, 30 yo nursing mother of a 14 month old has NUMEROUS cavities (I think 6 or 7, 2 that required porcelain inlays because they were too large to just fill) at her dental check up last week. Mother reports she has had regular cleanings & last cavity was over 8 years ago. Mother has been on an elimination diet since baby was 6 weeks old & she still very strictly avoids dairy, gluten, soy, nuts, shell fish & eggs. She has taken a "hypo-allergenic" calcium supplement (brand Bluebonnet) in the past but discontinued it when she determined it was causing the baby to have blood in his stool again. She has not taken any supplements at all for many months. She is of course concerned that she is calcium deficient and it is causing her teeth to decay. Would it really be possible for her to have that degree of change in just 6 months (the time period since the last cleaning) if calcium deficiency is the problem? This mom has a very good diet of primarily whole foods, she's not drinking soda or eating candy to be sure! The other very suspicious factor in all of this is that she changed dentists since her last cleaning. But the extent of the tooth decay she's describing does seem like it would be hard to miss, right?

I have heard that pregnant or nursing mothers can be more prone to cavities but is there an evidence base to support this? My preliminary search of the archives & google scholar just turned up a bunch of stuff about night nursing! Not exactly the info I'm looking for. Interestingly when the mom asked the dentist if the cavities could be due to her nursing with the dairy elimination he said he didn't think so & it may be that her mouth is just too acidic & to sprinkle baking soda on her toothbrush before brushing. 

Any suggestions for how to counsel this mom? She has no interest in weaning but doesn't want to spend any more time or money at the dentist's office if she can avoid it. 

Thanks, 
Laura Wasielewski MS, CCC-SLP, IBCLC
Los Angeles,CA

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