Long-Term Breast-feeding Could Raise Your Kid's Risk for Cavities
If you breast-feed your babies for more than two years, you could be putting them at risk for getting cavities in the future, new research suggests.
There haven't been many studies looking at how breast-feeding, bottle-feeding and sugar consumption affect children's risk for cavities, according to the researchers. So they designed a study to examine whether the length of breast-feeding
alone is a risk factor for cavities separate from sugar consumption.
The study of 1,129 children in Pelotas, Brazil, was published Friday in
Pediatrics.
Children in the study went to a dentist at age
5, where they were evaluated for filled, decayed and missing primary
tooth surfaces, and for severe cavities, CNN reports.
Nearly one-quarter had severe cavities, or six or more filled, decayed
or missing primary tooth surfaces. Those breast-fed for two years or
more had double the risk of severe cavities than those breast-fed for
under one year.
"There are some reasons to explain such an association," study author Dr. Karen Peres
told CNN. "First, children who are exposed to breast-feeding beyond 24
months are usually those breastfed on demand and at night. Second,
higher frequency of breast-feeding and nocturnal breast-feeding on
demand makes it very difficult to clean teeth in this specific period."
Peres is also an associate professor at the University of Adelaide in
Australia.
That's not to say breast-feeding doesn't have
benefits for teeth. Peres discovered that babies breast-fed for just six
months are 72 percent less likely to develop crooked teeth.
Breast-feeding recommendations vary: The
American Academy of Pediatrics suggests one year of breast-feeding and
then re-assessing if both mother and child want to keep going; the World
Health Organization suggests breast-feeding go on for as many as two
years or more.
"Ultimately, what this study shows me is that
breastfeeding up to 24 months is OK," Dr. Ruchi Sahota, an American
Dental Association spokeswoman and family dentist, told CNN. "And then
if you choose to breastfeed after 24 months, be sure that you're also
employing preventative methods to avoid cavities."
Researchers recommend preventative care measures and further study to alleviate the problem.
"Preventive interventions for [cavities] should
be established as early as possible because breast-feeding is beneficial
for children's health," according to the study. "Mechanisms underlying
this process should be investigated more deeply."
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