This week is World Breastfeeding Week. The slogan is: “Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet.”
The Start4Life campaign highlights the “wide-ranging benefits of breastfeeding, from strengthening immunity and providing nutritional value to emotional bonding and building mental resilience.” It’s also a great time to learn a little more about how breastfeeding helps babies’ teeth develop.
Research shows breastfeeding helps babies’ teeth
- Breastfeeding helps babies teeth develop better alignment. Research found that babies breast fed exclusively for six months were less likely to have open bites, crossbites, or overbites than babies breast fed for less time or also fed by bottle. Breast feeding strengthens nasal breathing and facial muscles.
- When breast fed, babies don’t develop ‘baby bottle tooth decay’.
Be careful of the alternatives to breastfeeding
- Acid in fruit juices can erode tooth enamel, and even the dentine beneath.
- Bottle feeding with sugary drinks will lead to tooth decay.
- Some breast milk substitutes contain sugar.
- Using a pacifier can cause dental misalignment when used for too long.
- ‘Baby bottle tooth decay’ happens when baby’s new teeth have prolonged exposure to sugary drinks.
The best way to look after new teeth
- Bring your baby to the dentist, as soon as the first tooth begins to erupt. Your dentist will give you the best dental advice!
- Even though breast milk is a babies’ best food, it contains natural sugar. You can begin cleaning a baby’s gums even before a tooth comes through. To begin:
- cradle your babies head for security;
- wipe the teeth and gums gently with damp gauze on a finger.
- Once teething begins, add a rice-sized smear of fluoride toothpaste.
In line with the current NHS Starting Well initiative encouraging more babies to be taken to the dentist, SpaDental Chard, Plymouth, Saltash and Whitchurch prioritise children as NHS patients when there are vacancies.
- Somerset – SpaDental Chard
- Devon – SpaDental Plymouth
- Cornwall – SpaDental Saltash
- Shropshire – SpaDental Whitchurch