Breastfeeding and teeth brushing

[Jergens]

Was reading another thread about bottles at bedtime. A lot of the responders mentioned the importance of brushing teeth after the milk. Does this apply to breastfed babies too? Our bedtime routine consists of (in this order): books, teeth brushing, bath then milk (fr breast). DD is 1 yr old and only rarely has milk during the night.
I'd like to keep the bedtime routine that we have but not if it will lead to cavities.

We do bath, books/warm cows milk at same time, teeth then breast feed to sleep and my DD 2 still feds alot through the night. I wouldnt worry too much breastmilk is natural if it was going to rot their teeth mother nature wouldnt have made it that way - or thats what I'm hoping anyway.

I'd recommend it, or at least see if you can alter the routine without too much upset.

You can always have another go in a month or two, for example if it disrupts the sleeping to the extent that you have to 're-feed'.

My EBF 2.10 year old recently had 3 molars 'patched up' at the dentist. I don't want to scare you - the decay was actually very slight, and he did not even have anaesthetic as the dentist thought the injection would hurt more than the work she was doing.

But it was very distressing for him to go through all the same, and probably preventable.

After that visit, we told him he couldn't have anything but water after he had brushed his teeth in the evening, and he did accept it pretty well. Not so easy with a 1 year old though, so I know the dilemma!

My dentist said unless children have had tonnes of sugar, tooth decay before age 5 is normally down to an unavoidable calcium deficiency in the womb and not down to not brushing teeth after a bf. If I attempted that I think it would ruin the whole settling down to bed thang. Besides, my DD is 13 months and has only 4 teeth and the milk goes right to the back of her mouth....

Mockingbirds - tis a good point, I forgot to mention my DS got all his teeth really early. Think he had molars by about 15 months.

Thanks for all the comments.
DD has 14 teeth and two more popping through (turned one two weeks ago). This is why I'm a bit concerned. Worry that with so many teeth, she's at risk of decay fr breastmilk.
mockingbird that's a good point re. Calcium levels.
I'll try not to worry about it. Teeth aside, I like that a breastfeed is the last part of DD's day, sending her off to slumber...

Also when bf milk goes straight to the back of the mouth and is swallowed where as milk from a bottle pools in the mouth and around the teeth. No need to worry imo...nature thought about it already.

They say that you need to brush teeth very well before breastfeeding at night, but if you have, then feeding at night is fine and breastmilk actually has a protective effect on the tooth enamel. If there are any particles of food in the mouth though, breastfeeding can be harmful to the teeth.

Am a bit worried about this TBH as DS is 3 and has only very recently got the hang of brushing his teeth rather than just sucking the toothbrush and it's always been hit and miss whether he would let me in his mouth to give them a brush myself.

"The 1999 Erickson study (in which healthy teeth were immersed in different solutions) indicated that breastmilk alone was practically identical to water and did not cause tooth decay - another experiment even indicated that the teeth became stronger when immersed in breastmilk. However, when a small amount of sugar was added to the breastmilk, the mixture was worse than a sugar solution when it came to causing tooth decay. This study emphasizes the importance of tooth brushing and good dental hygiene."

kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html