Hello All!

I am a LLL Leader in Missouri, USA.  A friend recently took her 14 mo.
old to the dentist for the first time and was told to wean IMMEDIATELY
because his nursing was increasing his likelihood of dental caries.
Now, this mom has not nursed at night for a while but has no intention
of weaning her son until they are both good and ready.  Interestingly,
she herself is in school to become a dentist.  After hearing this from
her dentist, she went to an instructor in pediatric dentristy at her
school to ask her opinions and was told, in brief, that children don't
need to nurse past 3-4 months, that they should not nurse once the
molars come in, and that they should be eating "real food" by then
*SIGH* (I suppose that steak and potatoes have less of a cavity causing
effect than mother's milk...). (BTW, this friend is not in the U.S.).
Now I have one very disillusioned friend. She has asked for some
references on nursing and dental issues (can one really call weaning at
3-4 mos. *extended* nursing???) so that she can at least educate herself
for her future practice, since it is clear that her education in this
respect will be, shall we say, lacking.  I have given her the few that I
could find, but would GREATLY appreciate any and all applicable
references that you kind people can share.  You may e-mail me privately
if you wish, at [log in to unmask]
Thank you so much for your help!

Andrea Simmons