Breastfeeding Not Linked To Childhood Cavities
There have been previous studies suggesting that breastfeeding may be associated with early childhood cavities, but now we have some good news...The journal Pediatrics reports that, by utilizing the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey as part of the evaluation, infant breastfeeding is not associated with early childhood caries. The study took many factors into consideration including household diet history and dental examinations in addition to other associations with childhood cavities, such as age, sex, race, and dental care. Most importantly, and always a point of contention when breastfeeding studies are conducted, the definition of breastfeeding (duration total, duration of exclusive breastfeeding) was taken into account and the authors of the study used many different analysis techniques to come to their conclusions based on these definitions.
There are obviously many different reasons why childhood cavities occur, but now you can rest assured that there is no evidence that breastfeeding is bad for your baby's teeth.
Comments
Hi. I am a dental hygienist in a busy pediatric practice. Breastfeeding is great and does not cause cavities. (I’ve breastfed my 3 boys.) However, we do see children who have been allowed to nurse all night at will with cavities just like children allowed to go to bed with a bottle. It is the frequency of milk in the mouth, not the milk itself that is the problem. In the same way I see kids who are sipping juice or teens who sip sodas all day who are the ones with cavities. Thanks for the great info!