BF over 2 years and teeth

[traseal]

Im not sure if this is a dumb question.
My aunty told me today that she knows two people who have bf over two years and both kids had bad teeth because breatsmilk is rather sweet and it stayed in there mouth when they were asleep and so it caused there teeth to rot....
my instincts tell me that she has no idea but can somewhere share there knowledge with me please

[Mrs Nietzsche]

Yeah this is garbage.

Breastmilk travels straight down the throat, the nipple is drawn so far down the back of the mouth. And the only way to get a new mouthful of milk is to swallow the old one.

Night time bottles do a lot of damage though.

[workin'mumof2]

i asked this on the aba too.. i only got one responce where the child had bad teeth but it ran in the family so there you go:)

[JabberJaw]

Its a crock, my DD was fed till 3 and her teeth are perfect, more so than the 2 kids i gave bottles to after finishing BF them.

As Marie said, the nipple is drawn beyond the teeth.

[little_fish]

I was told by the local health nurse that it's not advised to feed to sleep by breast or bottle because of pooling in the mouth causing decay. breast milk certainly is sweet.

I know the nipple is drawn a long way in during feeding, but my babies quite often have had a milk dribble come down their chin when they've fed to sleep. I can't say I noticed it when I was breast feeding my toddler, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was some left in his mouth if he fed to sleep, definitely in his saliva which is floating around his mouth.

My choice was to always take care to brush his teeth after the last feed of the night. An easy enough choice to make though, considering he didn't start teething until 11 mths and had dropped all night feeds by then.

Juice (or other acidic sweet drinks) and inadequate teeth cleaning, and genetics probably are bigger things to worry about.

[Mrs Nietzsche]

I know what you mean little_fish about the dribble. It might possibly be with a younger baby when the milk is still flowing quite fast? I haven't noticed the dribble for quite a while with DS and I didn't with my DD either, after their first few months.

I actually asked a friend of mine who is a dentist who specialises in children's dentistry about it... she said breastfeeding is fine but bottles do a lot of damage. I tend to trust her on this one as she is not particularly pro-breastfeeding lol and is highly nerdy with anything teeth-orientated.

She said fruit is not too bad as the sugar isn't that concentrated (the way it is in artifiical things) but that you shouldnt snack constantly on fruit (or anything else) or the teeth are under 'constant attack'.

[Seacretsquirrel]

I have heard this too I BF till 14 months and DD started teething at 6 months I never really worried about it too much.
My mum is a early childhood teacher and she sees a lot of bad teeth (toddlers requiring major dental work) but many of the ones who have very bad teeth are the ones who take a bottle to bed as it pools in the mouth - I have heard that the best thing to do whether Bottle or Breast feeding is to give a sip of water last thing before sleep (if feeding to sleep) as it rinses the mouth out and helps prevent the pooling.
DD is 2 and after the teeth are brushed all she gets is water - no milk, juice or food.

[traseal]

thanks for your replies. DS has no teeth and only 6 months but i was just curious if her statement had any fact to it