talk to me about caries...

My LO has texture issues and does not tolerate a toothbrush in his mouth very often. So, it is always a quickie brush for him. Of late, a notice a bit of white discoloration in his front teeth. Could it be the beginning stages of a dental caries. We do not give him any refined sugar/toffee/chocolates/sweets, but he does get honey and cookies with demerera sugar and diluted juice.
Both DH and my family have poor enamel, just a little worried it could be carries at such an early age?

 

Raj, mmm, I doubt that. The mechanism of breastfeeding is completely different from bottle feeding. BM does not pool around the teeth as it would in bottle feeding while sleeping. You may find this article an interesting read. K's cousins are fed a bottle of pediasure in the night, with its sucrose and lactose it is twice as deadly. But no caries in sight.
My dentist does not seem to think breastfeeding is linked to caries, however poor hygiene might be!
Shefali, thanks for writing. With Kiran, his texture aversion issues are huge. The brush kinda tickles his mouth I think, he will let me brush some times, others he will scream. He will not eat potatoes, other root veggies, porridges, he will not step on water or a wet floor. He will not drink a pulpy juice. I am hoping this phase will go away soon.
I was hoping the white lesions wont be caries. Looks like that now... Just have to take him to the dentist the next time I am going!

 

Raj, you're right in passing on the information.
I am slightly worried given the family history. The reason why I put out that link is that breastfeeding has become so devalued in our societies, east, west. It's counterintuitive, if breastfeeding were to cause caries/all the other problems present day science attributes to it, then our ancestors - before formula was invented, before they thought of night weaning as a panacea for poor sleep, caries, etc. - would have evolved not to lactate or have become edentate .
I had nightweaned K around 15 months (accidentally, we slept in different rooms because I cant tolerate a/c), it is only recently he has returned nursing x3 a night.

PS: I can see you've been busy. The forum looks cleaned up and neat. Can you come home sometime and help with the organisation

 

Thanks Chitra, for the reassurance. K is going on 22 months, has had teeth all of 8 months only. I keep reading that remineralisation is possible before the formation of caries. I see he has these streaks, the surface is not pitted. SO I am hoping I caught it really early. I still have not found a non-floridated toothpaste here, so I have been using a sliver of flouridated and doing a quick brushing and cleaning it with a washcloth before he can swallow his saliva, going over his teeth with a washcloth after every meal. He did have a tendency to graze throughout the day. We are trying to enforce stricterr mealtime now..
I am not sure about night nursing, I see your point. But all literature that has come my way through a breastfeeding support website, tells me it is the introduction of Staphylococcus mutans rather than breastmilk that is the threat. Anyways in the night, he never went to bed without brushing his teeth and has always had a drink of water after nursing. Unfortunately, nightweaning/weaning is not an option for us till K outgrows his dairy sensitivity.
We will be taking him to a dentist soon enough, till then I am all ears about what else I can do. (are you a paediatric dentist?) Can I impose on you to explain remineralisation to me then. Thanks in advance.
PS: We dont do any TV anymore, no cartoons LOL. But I think he has issues with textures as in some sensory integration issues. It runs in the family (me, my nephies, we have issues with eating certain kind of food, etc.) So I would like to see what else can be done other than forcing the issue.