15 months old baby with dental problem... Does anyone know a breastfeeding friendly dentist paediatrician?

[Kizzypetit]

Hi! I really need some help! I would like to receive an advice from mums who have had the same problem...
My 15 months old baby has been breastfed since she was born. She is not bottle fed and doesn't use dummy. She eats fruits, veggies and a balanced diet (no sweets at all). Her upper teeth have a brown color and the dentist pediatrician conclusion, after a Rx, is that she has a condition called Enamel Hypoplasia and the suggested procedure is to extract her 4 teeth.
I think this is a very drastic decision as we are talking about the teeth, which are very important for talking and for the psycologically wellbeing of my daughter (imagine a child without any tooth until 7 years old!) I think there must be another option, a less traumatic way to help her.
Please, if you know any mum, through this community, who has had a similar experience, tell them I would like to know if there is a dentist paediatrician who is also breastfeeding friendly, as they are also very convinced that the breastmilk causes tooth decay because of the sugar and that I need to stop breastfeeding her, in order to avoid that the infection might get to the permanent teeth. I did a research and many scientific papers say that there is no proof that breastfeeding, even frequent breastfeeding at night causes the problem.

Thanks so much for your support!

Hmm, have googled and it seems that most studies have found no link between bfing and dental decay, like you say. I'd find another dentist and get a second opinion. Look at Kellymom etc. For more info.

Also, if you google enamel hypoplasia, bfing is not one of the causes!

Definitely find another dentist. Good luck.

Where are you based?

Are you in London?
Malcolm Levinkind is a great pediatric dentist but very expensive!
You could call him and see what he says and if he can help before you actually go there?

Hi, thank you all for your answers! Yes, I am in London.
Like you said, I am definitely going for a second opinion, but I would like to go to a pediatric dentist who also supports breastfeeding, because it is worthless to go to another one who thinks that the breast milk is affecting her teeth. It would be a waste of money, time and effort.
I will call Malcolm Levinkind to see how much does he charge and take a look at Kellymom as well.

Levinkind definitely supports breastfeeding and he's supposed to do an excellent job with cracks chips etc but as I said very expensive! We went just for a check up as thankfully teeth ok but paid a fortune (mind you he's quite nice with kids though)
Would you mind posting back to update us on how much he charged you and what he proposed you do?

AFAIK breastfeeding is detrimental to teeth when there are other foods present. So you need to make sure her teeth are cleaned really well before bedtime etc.

kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/tooth-decay/

My Ds, aged 6 has enamel hypoplasia on first permanent molars. He also has a little brown staining on upper baby teeth- no decay present though. He wasn't breastfed beyond a few weeks so I would say breastfeeding unlikely cause.

From my research enamel hypoplasia may occur from virus or antibiotic use in pregnancy or infancy, not read anything about Breastfeeding. All you can do is toothbrushing 2x day, limit fruit to mealtimes and maybe change dentist if you are unhappy with advice. I have also heard dentists are unlikely to restore baby teeth under GA so perhaps this is why extraction was suggested.

Eastman dental hospital has an excellent paediatric dentistry department.

My wonderful dentist ( who is now only doing reconstructive work) adv. leaving DD's baby teeth even with large areas of enamel hypoplasia and just brush well twice a day. There were four affected molars and three incisors and one canine - a large portion of her first year was spent on a cocktail of antibiotics to save her life and prevent meningitis.
He did advise not playing wind instruments till permanent incisors through for this and a variety of other reasons.
She now has a full set of lovely good adult teeth.

Hi! Thank you all for replying! I really appreciate each one of them! Now, I have a clearer scenario of what to do. Well, I called Dr Levinkind and also searched on the Eastman Dental Practice website and they have similar fees... So, at the moment I am about to take the decision with my husband.

Lonecatwithkitten: Sorry, you didn't tell me who is this dentist of your daughter. Could you please tell me his/her name? Thanks!

He is no longer a regular dentist so you would not be able to see him he only does teritary referral for dental implants as part as maxillofacial reconstruction now which is why I didn't include his name.

Ok, thanks! I understand...

DS had all his teeth (almost) removed due to enamel hypoplasia. Again told it was bfing but it think the fact he had IUGR and a very poorly performing placenta had far more to do with it. Doesn't it make more sense that not enough nutrients were getting through to the baby than bfing (which many many mothers do with no untoward consequences)?

Of course we are too stupid to work that one out

His teeth were mostly little stumps by this time

Hi Kizzypetit, I was wondering if you could give me an update. My daughter is experiencing similar problems and I've booked with Dr Levinkind for a consultation. Very expensive but I'm hoping its worth it. Did you end up going to levinkind or Eastmans? Hope all is well with your little princess Xxx