Ilene asked about mucosal lining or bacterial population being altered due
to pacifier use.  Here are some citations:

Niemelä M; Uhari M; Möttönen M: A pacifier increases risk of recurrent
otitis media in children in day care centers.  Peds 96:884, 1995.

Niemelä M; Uhari M; Hannuksela A: Pacifiers and dental structure as risk
factors for otitis media. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngo 29(2):121, 1994.

Jones CK: Proposed link between pacifiers and acute otitis media
questioned.  InfDisChild, Feb. issue:52, 1996.

Niemala et al. postulate that pacifier use may change bacteria in the mouth
and throat and may affect Eustachian tube function.


Here's another article my search turned up that has an endearing title:
Gale CR; Martyn CN: Breastfeeding, dummy use and adult intelligence.
Lancet 347:1072, 1996.
Check out the abstract for this article if you have Medscape!!


Cindy Turner-Maffei, MA, IBCLC