Breastfeeding And Dental Cavities

Dental surgeons (at least in Canada) have observed a certain number of cavities with breast-fed children. That has inspired a scientific study by the Canadian Dental association.  No conclusion can be reached…. That does not surprise me, because the observations do not take into account the length of time before weaning. In fact, if one agrees with the work of Rudolf Steiner, father of Anthroposophy, the appearance of the first tooth is the sign of weaning’s start.

And the first tooth appears

Breast-feeding then tapers off and becomes complete two or three months after the appearance of the first tooth (at nine-ten months). That is the age at which an infant can sit up and eat with a spoon.

Over 30 years of clinical observation I have observed, as have the Canadians, more cavities with some children (but not all!) who have been breast-fed until they are two or three… but not for the reasons that one might suppose. Mothers’ milk is not at all cavity-causing!! (Yay! Mothers of the world: do not feel guilty…) but continuing to breast-feed after nine months seems to lead to mechanisms that are energetic and emotional, according to Chinese medicine and body mind language. These put into play a notion of territory, which leads to dental fragility.

First tooth and emotions

Here is my theory concerning this emotionally sensitive topic:

The appearance of the first tooth between four and seven months is the first sign of physical autonomy. Indeed, with their teeth infants can feed themselves with elements other than those from breast-milk, or the industrial equivalent. When the infants are breast-fed after they have teeth, two contradictory messages assail them:

• Mommy feeds me with her milk: I am part of her etheric body, I am dependent.
• My teeth appear: I am becoming an autonomous being, attuned to the world and will grow.

This is a normal time of transition, with new bases, new discoveries. It is also a time that is emotionally fragile, when traumatic experience leaves a cellular memory.

Infants’ etheric bodies, at about nine months, separate themselves from those of their mothers. Children become aware of their own bodies; feet, hands become major subjects of exploration. Massages, games that name and touch different parts of the body help the child become aware of his bodily territory, while reinforcing energy near the kidneys’ meridian. That is the reasoning that leads me to reconsider the notion of territory to the resistance dental cavities.

Traditional Chinese medicine and teeth

I recently pushed my questioning further, for it is true that certain populations that are closer to nature breast-feed for longer periods, yet children have good teeth.

After observing the relationship of cavities and the rest of the body (via the kidneys’ meridian), I can state that breast-feeding does not in itself bring a predisposition to cavities, but that parents in their role of tutors and in their teaching the respect of territory, may have an effect:

• Do children from Western societies who are breast-feed over long periods sleep longer in their parents’ rooms, even in their beds?
• Are they ardently sheltered for a longer period? More in their mothers’ « skirts »?
• Do they tend to « impose » on their mothers the wish to suckle at any time, day or night?
• Are mothers tempted to substitute a sweet for the breast-feeding for which they do not have time?

I leave these questions open, without any judgment, underline my opinion on the most important point in dental prevention from the holistic dental perspective:

The apprenticeship of the notion of territory: recognizing limits and imposing them, knowing how to say « no », respecting one’s territory and that of others, understanding how to take one’s place and feel at home whatever the surrounding territory… assure an energy at the kidneys’ meridian, and so teeth that resist cavities!

Lire la version française ici – https://naturalcures.com/allaitement-maternel-et-caries-dentaires/

Catherine Rossi

Dr. Catherine ROSSI, dentist, graduate of the Faculty of dental surgery of Toulouse (France) in 1984, I discovered natural medicine in 1983.

I have been practicing my profession in Paris since 1985. I have 3 daughters, 2 grand ‘daughters and I am happy!

The day I started treating myself with alternative medicine and experienced the miracles it had on my health, it became for me inconceivable to prescribe for my patients allopathic remedies as I was taught to do so in the university.

Therefore, I studied and incorporated homeopathy, aromatherapy, phytotherapy, acupuncture etc. into my practice from the very start.

This practice which has come to be defined “holistic dentistry” became for me a reason for being. It was accompanied by a personal evolution, an art of living in harmony with nature, of a consciousness in the role of each living being in the balance of our universe.

As my personal and spiritual work evolves, the care that I provide to my patients has taken on a special dimension: my relationship to another takes on character of sacredness in trust and in Love.

I present this blog to you as my modest contribution for a better world because my belief is that: on the path of life we always advance the best with good teeth.

Website – https://naturebiodental.com/