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]