How are your breastfed child's teeth ?

[koolkat]

DS is 20 months old and I brush his teeth 2x a day. He was excl. breastfed to 6 months and now bf 4 - 5 times a day.

According to my dentist, I should cut down on my DS's breastfeeds as breastmilk is bad for teeth

She did not look at DS's teeth, I was the one having a check-up, I just asked here whether what I was doing with DS's teeth was the right thing.

I didn't want to quote the research at her which says quite the opposite: bm does not cause caveties if you have good oral hygiene and in fact bf gives a child an excellent jaw line and perfect bite, etc.

DH's has 3 close relatives who are dentists, all have PhD's, and every single one of them says that bf is excellent for teeth (but they are based abroad not in the UK).

So, here goes my question:

Do you have a toddler/older child who was exclusively breastfed for at least 6 months, and then breastfed to at least 2 years old, who has lots of caveties ?

Have you been told these caveties are due to extended breastfeeding ?

God,someone else talking through their arse
(The dentist not you koolkat.)

My 5 year old dd b/fed for 30 mths and has lovely teeth.Feel this is due simply to steering clear of sugar and cleaning teeth regularly however.

Breast feeding doesn't give a perfect bite/excellent jaw line, but it doesn't affect the way the jaw etc is developing (which can occur with prolonged use of certain types of beakers/bottles etc). BM does contain sugars but as long as you have good oral hygiene and brush after last feed of the day it shouldn't be a problem.

tooth decay CAN occur due to either bottle feeding or breastfeeding.
BUT this is generally if your child is regularly falling asleep feeding and milk is gathering and being left on the teeth.
so it really is a combination of the feeding and poor dental hygiene.

so yes.. it CAN be bad... but it's unlikely.

but where did you read the bit about
"in fact bf gives a child an excellent jaw line and perfect bite, etc. "

I was exclusively breastfed and have a far from perfect bite and a dodgy jawline!!!!

The following is a copy from an article from Dr Palmer (a leading researcher on breastfed children and teeth):

Cranio-Facial Development and the Etiology of Malocclusions

       Shepard,19 noted that the largest increments in craniofacial growth occurred within the first 4 years of life, and that craniofacial development is 90% completed by 12 years of age.  The flexible and soft human breast nipple tissue is beneficial in shaping the hard palate because it flattens and broadens in response to the infant's tongue action.   As the infant uses a peristaltic-like motion to "strip" milk from the mother's nipple/areolar area, the hard palate is gently shaped by the infant's tongue to a rounded U-shaped configuration.  A physiologically and appropriately shaped palate aligns the teeth properly and reduces the incidence of malocclusions.
    In the early stages of oral cavity development, the palate is almost as malleable as softened wax.  Thus, when any object is pressed against the soft bones of the palate, these bones can be molded into a narrow, unnatural shape.  This eventually leads to the poor alignment of teeth, and the "V-shaped" palate found in many people with malocclusions.  This dynamic also explains how the upper back teeth are pulled inward to cause a mismatch or "cross-bite."  Once a malocclusion develops, it can create a domino effect that can damage the rest of  the teeth.  
       In 1987, Labbok and Hendershot20 published a retrospective cohort study of  9,698 children between 3 and 17 years of age.  That study assessed the association between breastfeeding and malocclusion.  The data demonstrated children who were breastfed for three months or less had a malocclusion rate of 32.5%.  Children breastfed more than twelve months had a malocclusion rate of only 15.9%.  In that study, children who were bottle fed were 1.84 times more likely to have malocclusions than children who were breastfed.  Labbok and Hendershot20 concluded that each additional month of breastfeeding contributed to a decline in the malocclusion index.
       Other infant habits, unrelated to feeding, may contribute to malocclusions.  Studies conducted by Larsson21,22 concluded that prolonged finger sucking caused an anterior open bite, proclination and protrusion of the maxillary incisors, a lengthening of the upper arch and the anterior displacement of the maxilla.  In addition, studies by Bowden,23 Melsen,24 Paunio25 and Ogaard26 found a positive association between the use of pacifiers and malocclusion.  The forms of malocclusion described by these authors included crossbite, reduced arch width, lower anterior facial height, rotation of mandibular plane angle, open bite, and tongue thrust swallow.  

If interested you can reda the rest of his article look at\link{http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/bfeed_oralcavity.htm\this}

DD's teeth are fine, no cavities. Was bf for over 18 months.
Surely drinking juice/cordial etc from bottles much worse for teeth?

Starlover - this is another bit I copied from the same article:

During breastfeeding, the infant has to work the jaws and tongue in a natural physiological manner to aid in the compression of the lactiferous sinus. This action, plus normal swallowing motions, help to develop proper perioral (around the mouth and jaw) musculature.

Starlover - It seems from what I have read that obvioulsy genetics, dummy use, thumb sucking, bottle use, etc. can all cause problems with tooth alignment and jaw line.

So if you were bf, BUT you also used a dummy for a long time or sucked your thumb, these may counteract any benefit you got from bf.

I have quite nice looking, straight white teeth. I was breastfed to around 7 months, but I don't have a perfect bite because my mum told me I sucked my thumb well into the toddler years.

I breastfed both my children. They both had teeth while still being exclusively breastfed. I did not feed them to sleep and always cleaned their teeth after the last breastfeed of the day. However at this point they were not sleeping though and were being breastfed (not to sleep) in the night.

DS is 5 and has 19 perfect little white teeth and one wobbly one. DD is 1 and has 17/18 (cannot work out if that molar is through yet!) lovely white teeth. Although I would say that DD's are not as perfectly aligned as DS's.

Neither had a dummy, neither sucked their thumb, both were off bottles by 12 months, DS off trainer cups by 2 and DD will be. She has one non-spill cup of milk in a morning, but her other drinks are in ordinary trainer cups or a cup with a straw. Both drink watered down juice.

Interesting article koolkat. It reinforces what I said about the possible detrimental effects to occlusion through thumbsucking, prolonged bottle use etc. But I guess there is evedience there to suggest not only is breastfeeding not harmful to the dental development but actually beneficial, (not information I had seen before).

My first child (now 9) has a few fillings . He was fed until 18 months. He also had formula and continued with a bottle at night for quite a while longer.

My DD (now 6) has perfect teeth and was bf until 3. She also had a bottle (when I was at work).

DS#2 (now 3) is still bfing at night only. He has rarely used a bottle even when I was at work. His first trip to the dentist is in 6 weeks time so we'll see but as far as I can see they seem fine.

This inspite of the fact that DS#1 had a lot less 'junk' food (crisps, biscuits etc) than the others - DD and DS#2 tend to have had more as there was more around the house. But DS1 refused to clean his teeth (had to almost sit on him to clean then when a toddler!!!) ....still not keen whereas DD has never had a problem and neither does DS#2.None of them has ever used a dummy.

Kate

DS exclusively BF for about 5mths, but bf until 2yrs. Never sucked a dummy and actually never took a bottle (grr). Has beautiful straight teeth - I tell him every day when I brush his teeth that he has the best teeth in the whole family!

Ds is 2.11 and still breastfeeds loads. We are going to the dentist tomorrow so will report back if necessary! I have read that the combination of milk sugar and fruit sugar is quite harmful so for instance if every day you gave them some raisins, then breastfed to sleep without cleaning teeth then that would be particularly likely to cause decay.

I believe unless your child is prone to tooth decay anyway, normal brushing is enough to keep the rot away, whether breastfed or not.

all milk can cause it ffs, sucking causes the milk to sit on the teeth longer than drinking from a cup, if it dries on the teeth it can cause caries
But with good dential hygiene highly unlikely.

my hv breastfed her dd until she was 2.5

she rang me in tears (yes, MY hv rang ME in tears) asking for the name of my dentist (he does oxygen treatment on kids teeth so they dont have to be extracted) as her dd had to have 4 teeth out and they gave her a bollocking for long term breastfeeding.

see even hvs get stick sometimes

koolkat... no i refused every kind of bottle/dummy on the market, much to my mother's distress!
oh and never sucked my thumb either!

maybe it's genetic... my mum and dad actually both have really nice teeth...but my brother and I have very wonky, crowded teeth.
my bite is awful (as I mentioned) and if I open my mouth too wide my jaw moves to the side! lol

I was bf for a year, then had milk in a cup. I didn't haev a dummy & I wasn't a thumb sucker.

At the age of around 9 I had 4 teeth removed as my mouth was overcrowded. I then wore a brace for a year or so.

Unfortunately the dentist didn't take on board my bottom teeth & I think this corrective action was too early. I've just had a cemented on brace removed after 2 years - top & bottom. Apparently where the bottom teeth were removed & no brace put in place, the teeth all moved & my bite was wrong & my lower teeth were too long (yuk)

I have no fillings, although I suspect if I went to the dentist (rather than the orthodontist), I might now need one or 2.

DH has marginal gaps between his teeth, so we are hoping DD's will come out ok !

Ref her teeth, she was bf for 2 years, has the occasional dummy & her teeth are cleaned twice a day with flouride toothpaste. She does still have a bottle (nuk teat) & we do clean her teeth after she has this. A visit to the dentist is on the cards, because her teeth are looking a little stained - she drinks diluted red grape juice at meal times & I am hoping it's just down to this.

Thanks all for comments.

I will continue to ignore dentist and bf son as often as he wants simply because I do not believe after reading all the research that bf PER SE is the cause of caveties, but obvioulsy from what you have all said I need to be very careful with his oral hygiene and snacks.

I DID try to give him dummies (at the insistence of my mother who said it would calm him down) when he was a baby, but he always spat them out. Just as well really !!

He only gets juice out of his sippy cup once a month as a treat. I have always been very strict about juice i.e. I have resorted to drinking juice out of a cup rather than a glass, so that he can't see what I am drinking and pester me for it

My brother was breastfed till 3 and had a mouth of terrible brown decayed teeth at 5
But I think that was not down to the bf but to the cups of tea my dad used to make him with three spoons of sugar in them!

Ds fed to 2.5 and has a head of perfect teeth. Front two a slight bit crooked if I'm being picky.

I put it down to never giving juice.

Hmm but Bobbybob, DS drank juice (and a lot of it I am ashamed to say, when he was younger ... watered down but still ...) and his teeth are perfect .... no cavities ... he is 6

I should add that I think juice is really bad and DD doesn't drink it at all. But when DS was a baby and toddler it was all I could get him to drink ... totally my fault I know because I should have started him on water and not even tried juice (which is what I did with DD) but I didn't know then what I know now
I think we are very lucky that he has good teeth ... but then thinking about it, juice was the only sugar he ever had as he didn't and still doesn't have a sweet tooth.
DD on the other hand does have a sweet tooth so we steer well away from juices and sugary stuff.

It just annoys me that the dentist thinks koolkat's breatfeeding is any of his business, especially without looking at the teeth.

As Ghosty's post shows, some children have good strong teeth, and other's presumably would rot on water alone. Advising a mother to "cut down" on breastfeeding is just silly unless there is good reason.

A Paed. once told me that there was an increased rate of depression for mother's who bfed past a year. I told him an increased rate still didn't mean that it would happen to me, so I would risk it thank you very much.

Bobby - I am absolutley amazed that a paed. would make such a claim

practically everything seems to be blamed on bf - whatever next ?

May be Cherie was a bit depressed when she was was bf-ing their new baby and told Tony to go to war in Iraq ?