>F.  Most practically, as LC's, RN's, MD's and all others I'm leaving out, you
>can help keep these kids from being told by the dentist that nursing is a
>problem, by helping teach the parents about good tooth hygiene for their
>babies.  <snip>

I thought Shauna's post was very sensible and balanced. Thanks, Shauna.

I just wanted to add something else that we could educate parents
about this topic. That is that caries is caused by bacteria, and that
mothers with untreated caries have high levels of these bacteria in
their own mouths. When the baby gets teeth, and if there is saliva
transfer from kissing, sharing spoons, 'cleaning' dummies (pacifiers)
by popping in mum's mouth, etc, then these bacteria will be
transferred to baby's mouth and may contribute to caries formation.
This is especially a risk if the family has a susceptibility to
producing weak tooth enamel.

So the message we should also be giving mothers is to make sure *she*
has good dental health, if not for her own sake, but to help protect
her children's teeth.
******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

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