By Sade Oguntola
It is biologically normal for babies and toddlers to breastfeed frequently day and night. Breastfeeding provides babies with the essential nutrients for growth and development, while also reducing the risk of infectious diseases, ear infections, diarrhea and even death. For mothers, breastfeeding can help them return to their pre-pregnancy weight faster, while also reducing the risk of ovarian and breast cancer.
The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding babies for a period up to two years or longer because of its many benefits for both mother and child.
Compared to bottle feeding, breastfeeding promotes normal mouth, palate and airway shape, and optimal teeth alignment. These factors can help to reduce sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sleep apnea, the need for orthodontics and can promote other future health benefits.
However, experts are worried that when inappropriately done, breastfeeding can cause tooth decay in toddlers. In fact, it is believed that breastfeeding at night from 18 months onwards is considered a risk factor for early childhood carries because most mothers practice simultaneous breastfeeding and sleeping.
The practice of mother and child sharing a bed is common in various cultures. It increases the duration of contact between the baby and mother, thereby increasing opportunities for breastfeeding and the duration of breastfeeding.
Young children are at risk for “early childhood caries,” sometimes called baby bottle tooth decay, which is severe tooth decay in baby teeth. A child under the age of six has early childhood caries if the child currently has a decayed tooth, has lost a tooth as result of tooth decay or has filled tooth surfaces.
In a new study, experts emphasise the practice of co-sleeping and breastfeeding becomes potentially aversive from the age of 18 months onwards, increasing the risk of caries.
However, babies who continued to breastfeed for 18 months or more but slept independently had a much lower rate of tooth decay than those who co-slept.
In this cross-sectional study, 212 children (aged 2–4 years) from Madrid (Spain) who breastfed at night were examined to assess the mean decayed/filled primary teeth (DFT) index, and a questionnaire was administered to the mothers to collect data on the practice of breastfeeding and co-sleeping and its duration, the number of nighttime feeding sessions, sugar content in the diet, dental hygiene habits, and age at first dental visit.
The DFT index was lower in the group that breastfed for less than 18 months. In addition, there were significant differences in the DFT index in the group breastfeeding for more than 18 months between those who co-slept for 18 months or more and those who co-slept for less than 18 months, as well as between those who co-slept for 18 months or more and those who did not co-sleep.
The 2021 study, Impact of Breastfeeding and -sleeping on Early Childhood Caries: A Cross-Sectional Study was published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
Much more, Dr. OmobolaOlanloye, a pediatric dentistry consultant at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, said it is a misconception that breast milk cannot cause cavities or cannot cause cavities or what is known as early childhood cavities.
“We found that breast milk can cause holes in the teeth if a woman nurses at night. For example, if she leaves the breasts in the child’s mouth overnight to keep sucking while she falls asleep, those teeth will be bathing in sugar all through the night. If that is a frequent occurrence, the child will develop early childhood caries.
“We now have holes in the teeth in a child that is just bringing out the primary teeth. This is a major concern for the mother and the clinician. If a child that is less than a year already has 4 bad teeth, you can imagine what the future would look like for such a child if nothing is done to intercept the progression of the condition at that stage,” she stated.
DrOlanloye said tooth decay is caused by bacteria primarily and it can happen when foods containing sugars and starches are left on the teeth. Such foods include milk, soda, candy, cake, fruit juices, cereals, and bread. This is why it is important to clean the teeth and not blame natural breast feeding.
In addition, she said mothers not cleaning their children’s teeth with toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste but using fingers, cotton wool or clean fabric is also a contributory factor to incidence of tooth decay in children.
“Brushing a child’s tooth with foam does absolutely nothing. They also use things like cotton wool and clean fabric. Some use handkerchiefs, some use towels. No, it does nothing. So if brushing is going to be properly done, it should be done with the aid of a soft bristle toothbrush for children less than two years,” she said.
She also cautioned against children carrying around sip cups, bottles of juice or milk or sweets because this also ends up meaning that teeth are consistently bathed in sugar.
Tooth decay is simple to prevent. It is a big deal, not only because of the pain and infection it can cause, but also because children with tooth decay are more likely to miss school and have poorer grades — and because tooth decay is linked to a higher risk of many health problems later in life, including heart disease and premature birth.
