I have an on-line friend in the Cleveland area whose 19 month old has
developed "bottle-mouth syndrome", bacterial in origin.  Needless to say, she
is pretty devastated
by this.  I am trying to get info to help her in her decision making about
what to do.

She needs suggestions for keeping her son's mouth clean and for trying to
reduce his nursing.  This child is definitly high-need (that is why we are
friends--we share this bond).  He nurses very frequently, including many
times at night.  Her dentist is not blaming the bottle-mouth on the nursing,
but she said at this point it is an aggravating condition--that it is making
things worse.  As you can imagine, he is not happy about having his mouth
cleaned or about having nursing cut back.  She has said that if she could
"turn off the faucet" she would do it (I have even given her some suggestions
for reducing her milk supply, if that is truly what she wants to do).

She also wants to know if it is safe to use hydrogen peroxide in his mouth,
to help fight some of the bacteria (apparently this syndrome is caused by a
specific bacteria).  She has been using a washcloth with baking soda to clean
his mouth, which he hates (he hates any attempts to clean his mouth, doesn't
matter what she uses).

Does anyone have any information on how soon up to receiving either general
anesethia or choral hydrate it is OK to nurse?  Her son is going to have to
have his teeth worked on very soon and she needs this info.

Finally, does anyone have any dentists that they consider to be outstanding?
 She is willing to fly anywhere in the country (although the NYC area is one
they are particularly interested in).  They are happy with the care the
dentist in Cleveland has given, but she has told them that she cannot save
two of his teeth.  They went for a second opinion, and this dentist said he
could save one of the teeth the first dentist was going to remove.  However,
there were many other things about the second dentist that made him
unnacceptable.  So, now they are torn, wondering if this tooth can indeed be
saved, but also wanting someone who they feel comfortable with.  If you know
of a dentist who is considered "top in his field" from a medical point of
view, I would appreciate the referrel.  (And, yes, she is considering the
trauma associated with hauling her kid across the country to be worked on,
but they travel *a lot* so this is not as big of a concern as it might be for
someone who is used to always being at home.  Her son is very outgoing and
not afraid of new situations.)

Thanks so much.  I need this info as quickly as possible, because the dentist
really feels like her son needs to be worked on immediatly.

Please e-mail me privately, even if you post to the list, so I can get the
info as quickly as possible.   Also, I would like permission to e-mail your
responses on to her, and if you are willing to communicate with her directly
via e-mail, please let me know.

 Thanks,

Susan Smylie
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