NUK recommends stopping BF at 6 months to prevent tooth decay - anyone else find this disturbing??

[theboobmeister]

NUK (yes, that's the teat manufacturer which likes to promote itself as "breastfeeding-friendly") has sponsored a British Dental Health Foundation leaflet on dental health for mother and baby. The leaflet recommends early cessation of breastfeeding (ie at 6 months) to prevent tooth decay!

I've scanned the leaflet, you can see it here ... it's being handed out in primary schools and is apparently also available in dentists surgeries.

Now we all know the stuff about extended BF causing tooth decay is a myth - recent studies have shown there is no link, and exposed the poor quality of earlier research. So it's shocking to see this myth reinstated by an authority, especially when the bigger problem is caused by sweet drinks in babies' bottles.

But what's really appalling is that the British Dental Health Foundation, an independent charity promoting dental health, seems to have been seriously compromised by NUK's sponsorship.

See here - it's the same leaflet on the BDHF's own website, not sponsored by NUK this time, which doesn't recommend early cessation of breastfeeding, is generally more positive towards breastfeeding and less positive towards bottle-feeding. So you get different advice, depending on whether you happened to read the sponsored or the non-sponsored version!

Any else think this is totally out of order?

Great, more fuel for the 'you are weird if you bf longer than 6 mths' brigade.

Lets hope those on here with fighting spirit can stop this before it gets into wider public arena and taints minds of unassuming breast feeders and tutting onlookers.

i was bf and i'd rather have savoury than sweet [useless personal anecdote emoticon].

its like the woman on gmtv saying bm was like cocacola . shocking.

The reply....

Thank you for contacting the Dental Helpline, run by the British Dental Health Foundation.

All of our information concerning breastfeeding comes from The World Health Organisation, (WHO) www.who.int or The Department of Health www.doh.gov.uk. We would suggest that you contact them for the research that you require.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further information. Should you wish to speak to a Dental Advisor, please contact us on our local rate number 0845 063 1188. We're open Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm.

Kind regards

Dental Advisor

The British Dental Health Foundation is a charitable organisation dedicated to promoting dental health to the public. We receive no government funding.

If you are happy with the service we have provided and would like to make a donation, please feel free to send postal orders or cheques (payable to the British Dental Health Foundation) to the address above. Alternatively, you can donate online at our website, www.dentalhealth.org.

It costs the Foundation an average of £5 for every enquiry we answer. Your donation will assist us to help many more people.

Their reply said...

Oh I don't fecking know. Go and bother somebody else.

Love from,

Nuk's BFF.

PS. Would you like to give us some cash?

I think the DoH and WHO might be very interested to know that they claim to base their assertions on their research and advice. Particularly when their advice so obviously contradicts the research and official recommendations.

A fiver!? For a total non-answer! I always thought artificial teats caused, if not actual decay, wonky teeth. I swear I was told that by a dentist. And also my mother, in regard to dummies (although I suspect that there was also a snobbery element going on there!).

SOH -

I have forwarded their response to both the DoH and the WHO and asked them to provide evidence that backs up the leaflets claims.

There should have been some punctuation in there. Knackers.

what a ridiculous answer. Especially as their assertions are in direct contradiction to the WHO advice.

Well I emailed them too and they haven't even bothered to respond to me.

Does anyone have contacts for the NCT or LLL? I think a query from them would carry more weight and they might actually feel obliged to respond with a proper answer.

La Leche League

For general enquiries:
email - LLLGB Enquiries - enter enquiries@ followed by laleche.org.uk
phone - 0845 456 1855 (Mondays and Thursdays, answerphone at other times)

Oh you marvellous people I love MN

But that reply is unbelievable!! I sent my email again but they haven't bothered. Based on the quality of their reply to Puzzle, I'm guessing that the monkey on the other end of their hotline is bashing the keyboard frenetically but as yet still producing random verbiage.

anyone got contacts in dentistry bit of NHS?? I'd be worried that dentists are paying for public health leaflets containing crap advice ...

email response from LLL

Dear

Thank you for contacting La Leche League about the leaflet from the BDHF and for attaching a scanned copy of the leaflet.

They appear to have worded this leaflet so badly that it has twisted the information from WHO about exclusive breastfeeding up to six months, to say something entirely inaccurate. It also appears to include incorrect and misleading information. Thank you for drawing our attention to it and I certainly think this is something which needs taking up by us.

We are fortunate to have Harry Torney, a dentist known for his support of breastfeeding, on our Panel of Professional Advisors. Harry is also married to an LLL Leader. I am going to ask our medical liaison Leader to see if she can contact him to get some input on this and I will start to put together an email to BDHF as soon as possible.

The information that the sponsor is a manufacturer of teats and bottles adds further concern to the integrity of this leaflet. I will let you know if we get any response and thanks again for contacting us.

best wishes,

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORAYYY!!!

And how utterly non-surprising that the LLL email is literate, sensible and to the point.

Whereas the BDHF email was, er, less so.*

Round of applause for PR.

*not that I would know first hand as I have yet to receive a response grrrr

My son had 'bottle rot' and my dentist said nightfeeding (breastmilk) was the cause and I had to stop that and brush his teeth and not give him anything but water until the next day.
(This was at age 1)
She said at best, swish some cow's milk in his mouth before he sleeps to neutralise any acids.
I was very confused as to how cow's milk was okay, but not my breast milk.

I think that even if my breastfeeding is the cause of my son's front teeth being somewhat decayed, that it was worth it anyway.
Those teeth are temporary and will fall out, he has to live with the rest of his body forever so I'm glad I didn't damage him in other ways with formula.

Oh fantastic well done Puzzle !!!

And mummy, that's TERRIBLE! Just shows that this myth really has spread far and wide, definitely time to scotch it once and for all if even apparently highly educated dentists are incapable of working it out for themselves.

Yeah it was a very confusing time, my dentist saying he should be on cow's milk at age one anyway, and not to breastfeed at night.
Then in the breastfeeding groups I went to they all said my dentist was wrong.
I didn't know what to believe.

I followed my instincts anyway and fed DS when he wanted until he was 2.5yrs, most of his teeth are unaffected, just the front two strangely, but like I said, they'll fall out in a few years anyway

Well I'm no dentist, but the research studies I listed somewhere near the top of this thread say that there is no evidence for a link between tooth decay and breastfeeding in any form (extended, through the night, etc). There could be any number of other things causing the decay (usual culprits are sweet drinks/food and/or not brushing teeth twice a day) but if you happen to be BF, the finger gets pointed at that for no other reason than the dentist vaguely remembers reading something about it and also probably thinks that BF at 12 months is a bit weird because he doesn't come across it very much.

So don't blame yourself mummy - the scientific evidence simply does not support what your dentist told you. The scientific evidence also strongly backs up your decision to continue BF!

Just heard from the NCT and their CEO is also going to take it up with BDHF, hurrah!

Excellent work BM.

Boobmeister - Good morning.
I am sooo tired today. Busy giving my daughter tooth decay last night.

LLL want to confirm a few things, know where you came upon the leaflet etc.
Can I tell them you will email and leave it with you? Thanks

UPDATE

Re Breastfeeding and tooth decay‏
From: Council ofDirectors ([email protected])

Dear

We have passed the information on to the dentist on our Professional Advisory Panel and he is keen to respond to the BDHF himself. He just wants to check first that there is no further information on breastfeeding contained in the leaflet. I wonder if you could confirm that the information shown in the scanned page is all that there is?

Our Leaflets team have also looked at it and just want to ask if you know if there has been a new leaflet since this one was printed in 2007. We see that the information on their website has been amended to be slightly better worded. However I believe that this 2007 leaflet is still being given out?

Thanks for any further information you can give us on this to make sure we send an accurate response to them.

best wishes,

Anna

Anna Burbidge

Chair, Council of Directors, La Leche League GB

Hello Puzzle, good to hear that you are putting this nutty preoccupation with BF before your child's dental health

Have emailed LLL the info as requested!

Also - anyone interested in emailing NUK to register concern about their sponsorship practices??

I had a reply from BDHF! Did you?

"We are currently looking into you concerns. However, I would initially stay that NUK no longer sponsor this leaflet and you are not in possession of our most current information Â? we have had 2 reviews and re-prints since."

Mind you - I just checked the leaflet I ordered online last week and it's dated 2009 - same recommendations, same NUK sponsorship! These things must stay in circulation for absolutely ages, what a nightmare.

naughty NUK!

Will watch with interest, PR.

BDHF will have received their email from LLL by now. Just waiting for a response.

Harry Torney rocks!!