{"id":726,"date":"2017-11-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/\/template2\/dental-care-blog\/breastfeeding-babys-oral-health\/"},"modified":"2017-11-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T00:00:00","slug":"breastfeeding-babys-oral-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/breastfeeding-babys-oral-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Breastfeeding And Your Baby\u2019s Oral Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1062\" src=\"http:\/\/contentlibrary.socialmediafordentistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2017\/11\/Breast-Feeding-And-Babys-Oral-Health_543-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" \/> <strong>ALL FIRST-TIME PARENTS<\/strong>\u00a0are faced with a seemingly endless stream of questions, decisions, and unknowns about how to raise and care for their new baby. One of the big ones is whether to breastfeed or bottle-feed.  There are passionate proponents of both options, some claiming that breast milk is far superior to formula while others claim that there\u2019s little nutritional difference, so why not take advantage of the convenience of formula? We can\u2019t make this decision for you, but, as dentists, we can weigh in on the effects of breastfeeding on a baby\u2019s oral health and development. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Key Breast Milk Nutrients<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Breast milk provides the nutrients your baby needs to grow healthy and strong, such as: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>proteins<\/strong>\u00a0like casein, which helps build strong jaw muscles,<\/li>\n<li><strong>fatty acids<\/strong>\u00a0crucial for brain development, and<\/li>\n<li><strong>vitamins<\/strong>\u00a0that are vital for dental development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> All of these nutrients are important factors in helping reduce tooth decay once those baby teeth make their debut. One nutrient that breast milk lacks, however, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/infant-and-toddler-health\/expert-answers\/vitamin-d-for-babies\/faq-20058161\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vitamin D<\/a>, an essential component in good oral health because it helps the body absorb calcium. Older children and adults get vitamin D from sunlight, but that can be risky for babies, so formula and supplements are safer sources. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Facial Development And Bite<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Leaving aside the nutrients of breast milk versus formula, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.health.com\/oral-health\/breast-feeding-may-have-dental-benefits-study-suggests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">studies have shown<\/a> that <strong>the actual act of breastfeeding<\/strong> is better for a growing baby\u2019s jaw and facial structure than bottle-feeding. Breastfeeding will help give your baby strong jaw muscles and healthy gums, which will decrease their chance of developing a malocclusion (bad bite) and requiring orthodontic treatment in their teens. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Breastfeeding And Tooth Decay<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Most people think they only need to clean their baby\u2019s gums after bottle-feeding because formula milk can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.laleche.org.uk\/breastfeeding-dental-health\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">linger longer<\/a>, leaving sugars to start causing decay, but it\u2019s just as important to <strong>clean the gums after breastfeeding<\/strong>. We also advise you not to put your baby to bed with a formula or breast milk bottle, as this can lead to a form of tooth decay known as \u201cbottle rot.\u201d <\/p>\n<h3><strong>How To Prevent Decay<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Whether you decide to bottle-feed or breastfeed your baby, it\u2019s important to begin the fight against tooth decay before the first tooth even shows up. Simply use a gentle washcloth or gauze to wipe away any leftover milk. Once the baby begins teething and you see their new teeth start popping up, you can start using a baby sized toothbrush with a grain of rice amount of toothpaste to clean their teeth!  <strong>Don\u2019t forget that new moms need to take care of their own teeth too!<\/strong>  <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lRB3Z9xUH7o?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<h3><strong>We\u2019ve Got The Answers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Along with these kinds of concerns, you probably have many other questions regarding breastfeeding and how it could affect your child. We\u2019re here for you! Give us a call or come in and we will address any concerns you have! <\/p>\n<h4>Breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, the choice is always yours!<\/h4>\n<h6>Top image used under <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/share-your-work\/public-domain\/cc0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC0 Public Domain license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #d9d9d9;\">The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>ALL FIRST-TIME PARENTS<\/strong>\u00a0are faced with a seemingly endless stream of questions, decisions, and unknowns&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,180,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-general-dental","category-pediatric","category-176","category-179","category-180","category-181","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}