First, yes, I have searched the archives and found some great info on dental
caries.  But I still have a couple of questions.

The mom I'm working with has two children - a boy almost 6 and a baby, 14
months.  The 6 y/o only had trouble with a couple of caries; the 14 month old
needs 4 root canals and caps on his 4 front teeth.

Now for the questions:

1.)  the dentist told her it was the CARBOHYDRATES in breastmilk causing the
decay.  This is a new one on me and I've been studying dental caries for a
while now (just interested and I have presented a talk on this topic).  Has
anyone ever run across a dentist saying this?  I know it's sugar -
specifically sucrose - that the strep mutans feed on, and I know carbohydrates
are converted into sugar, but certainly not instantaneouly in the mouth!

The dentist wants the mom to stop nursing at night.  But did I really need to
tell you all this?  :)  Unfortunately, this is all too often a given with
dentists, as we all know.

2.)  my friend took digoxin during both of her pregnancies for rapid heart
beat.  From the 7th month on with the 6 y/o and from the 4th month on with the
14 month old.  Could the digoxin be playing a part in all of this?

Other factors to note:  the mom has a dairy allergy so she did not consume a
lot of dairy during this latest pregnancy and she and her husband both have a
bad dental history.  She knows she needs to quit sharing utensils with the
baby.

I think that covers it.  Thank you in advance for your (collective) thoughts
on this.

Deb Wirtel, AAPL/MO
St. Louis
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