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Date: | Sat, 30 Mar 1996 15:35:14 -0500 |
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In the last post I did not give you the answer to the question I know you
wanted to ask - "What causes decay on the teeth of breastfed babies?"
I have only seen a couple of cases of "bottle mouth caries" in the many years
of practice, and I sent those to the hospital clinic for treatment. These
types of cases are rarely seen by the general dentist. I did not even think
it was much of a problem until I got on Lactnet. I was not even going to
discuss caries in my presentation - I will now if I get some slides from the
hospital clinic. I see MUCH MORE DEVASTATING THINGS CAUSED BY NOT
BREASTFEEDING ON A DAILY BASIS than caries!
Since caries is the topic, here are some possible reasons for caries:
1 - Less saliva flow - chewing gum advertisements state their gum helps
prevent decay - not from what is in the gum, but it stimulates more saliva
flow - which helps cleanse the teeth.
2 - If infant more prone to be a mouth breather due to congestion, etc. -
this dries the mouth more - decreasing the cleansing action of saliva
3 - Contact time - if milk "pools", the lactose in the milk "could" ferment
and cause decay. Remedy for this would be - when teeth start coming in - wipe
gums gently with soft gauze or small soft tooth brush at least one time per
day, more would be better. As the infant grows he/she will emulate its
parents. Do the parents watch their sugar intake and do they brush and floss
daily???
4 - Grooves on the top and sides of the teeth can vary in depth. The deeper
the groove the more prone it is to decay.
5 - I am not up on the chemistry of breast milk - is there anything other
than lactose that can ferment and cause decay?
Two other points:
1 - If the mother during her pregnancy has an illness with high fever, or if
the infant has an illness with high fever during early develop of the teeth,
then there is a possibility, that the teeth could have
hypo(less)calcification. These teeth would be more prone to break down and
have decay. Usually called "soft teeth".
2 - It is critical that tetracycline medication not be taken during pregnancy
or early development of the teeth. This has the potential of causing
permanently stained teeth. Sorry I took up so much space, but I felt there
was a concern out there about decay.
Teeth DO NOT ERUPT with decay in them!! A form of sugar IS the causative
factor!
"We only see what we know, therefore we must know to serve."
Brian Palmer DDS
[log in to unmask]
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