From another list:
In response to your two questions namely:
Is there currently enough evidence to:
1) Purport that breastfeeding at will is a cause of early childhood
caries?
2) Recommend against breastfeeding at will?
The policy-making dentists were discussing how breastfeeding can cause
cavities and "what to do?" when Aubrey Sheiham from England made this
insightful post:
There is no well documented evidence that breastfeeding at will is a
cause of early childhood caries. If one considers that at least one
third (most probably half) of all babies in the world are breast fed at
will and are caries free if no added sugars are given to them, then the
few isolated anecdotal not well controlled case reports where a claim is
made that it does, pales into insignificance.
Over evolutionary time all babies were breast fed at will for the first
2 years of life. From fossil evidence they were caries free. From my
study in Nigeria in 1967 it is clear that there was no caries in babies
and all were breast fed at will for up to 2 years ( Sheiham A. 'The
prevalence of dental caries in Nigerian populations', British Dental
Journal, 123, 144-148, 1967).
Most mothers in Africa, India and China who breastfeed do not need to
wipe their childrens' teeth and all that rubbish. When the child is
weaned they eat complex carbohydrates and still do not develop caries.
Moss should provide evidence for his claims. We cannot find any
evidence. And when I say we. that is my review for Eurodiat and Paula
Moynihan's review for the WHO. (Sheiham A. Dietary effects on dental
diseases. Public Health Nutrition 2001: 4(2b); 569-591. Paula Moynihan,
Diet, nutrition and the prevention of dental disease, Joint WHO/FAO
expert consultation on diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic
diseases, Geneva, Switzerland 28 January - 1 February 2002.)
From what I have said the answer to your second question is an emphatic
no.
There is no basis for a recommendation against breastfeeding at will.
Aubrey Sheiham
(Professor Aubrey Sheiham, B.D.S., Ph.D., D.H.C, Professor of Dental
Public Health, University College London,
Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health to Camden and Islington
Health Authorities.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/staff/sheiham.html
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