Bad(Ass!) Breastfeeding Mama

I took my daughter to the dentist last week. She has visible caries in her two front teeth. This is indicative of a mysterious modern disease that is now being called Early Childhood Caries (ECC). I am currently working on a series of blog posts about ECC and pediatric dentistry in general, but my experience last week was so appalling that I want to write about it separately from what will be a more scholarly essay.

After calling every pediatric dentist within an hour from my home, I discovered that every practice was a total mixed bag in terms of x-rays, amalgam, fluoride, etc., and that they all looked down on breastfeeding. Knowing that, I made my decision on where to take her based on how soon I could get an appointment. I knew we were not going to use the practice that I ended up taking her to. They have a policy of not allowing parents to be present if their child needs any treatment more extensive than a simple cleaning. This is unacceptable to me; I would not allow any stranger to take my child into a room by herself and do things to her, even if he or she has graduated from medical school. My job as her parent is to protect her and advocate for her, which I cannot do if I am sitting in a waiting room. When my daughter needed a blood test to check her lead levels our family doctor did not ask us to leave the room, in fact, there was an implicit understanding that my partner and I would need to be present in order to hold and soothe our daughter during the procedure. There is absolutely no reason why this would not be possible for a dental treatment. What are they trying to hide?

Since I was not concerned that we would need to maintain a relationship with this dentist, I decided that I was not going to be a placid, submissive patient. I, actually, intentionally choose to appear ignorant to most doctors because I know that most of them will not react well if I challenge their medical recommendations. I avoid the doctor as much as possible and when we do have to go in, I take what I need and ignore the rest. I really did want their medical opinion so I assumed that I would be able to go through most of the initial exam before I would become difficult. That initial period where we all smiled at each other congenially turned out to be about 30 seconds. They gave LZ (my daughter) a new toothbrush, asked me why I was there (caries, I told them), and the immediate follow up question was: Do you breastfeed? It was that fast and downhill the rest of the way.

The ADA and the AAPD believe that ECC is caused by "on demand" nursing, particularly night-nursing. This logic flies in the face of millions of years of human history (and I'm going to get into that in much more detail so stay tuned). After I told the dental technician that we were breastfeeding she immediately said "Oh, that's why she has the cavities" and then wrote on LZ's chart "Mother nurses on demand." I just about lost it. In any other situation, a medical professional writing on a chart that a baby breastfeeds would be like putting a gold star on the paper. It is finally widely accepted that breastfeeding is the absolute best way to nourish human babies. In every other medical office I would have been treated like a good mom.

I was thinking last night as I read this incredible news that throughout modern history every time doctors come up with a reason to dissuade mothers from breastfeeding or to persuade them that there are superior alternatives, they end up having to completely rescind their previous recommendations and grudgingly endorse breast milk. The very beginning of this lie being the fallacy that formula is just as good or better than breast milk. Many doctors are still telling moms with sick babies that they should discontinue nursing and give their babies pedialyte because breast milk is too rich or heavy or will produce mucus or some other baseless excuse. Pedialyte may hydrate a baby but it has no nutritional value. Breast milk is easy for babies to assimilate, is not analogous to cow's milk, and medically is considered to be a clear fluid. This means that in a medical situation where a doctor would prescribe a diet of clear fluids, breast milk is the top of the list for nursing children.

I argued with the hygienist for a few minutes until she ended the discussion with a pat "well we'll agree to disagree". Then the dentist came in and things continued basically the same way. He tried his best to give me explanations for why breastfeeding caused caries. I challenged each assertion he made and he quickly abandoned each point for a different one. I found this to be indicative of his ignorance on the subject, as it did not take much to make him switch theories. He was too focused on convincing me that breastfeeding causes caries, I think that a good doctor (or any wise expert person) should know enough about their specialty to thoroughly explain their own theories and should be able to answer questions and consider criticism. He even tried to tell me that her two front teeth were decaying because that is where the nipple sits. I almost laughed at him. The nipple from a bottle might sit near there, but an actual human nipple is pulled all the way to the back of the mouth and the milk is expressed directly into the back of the throat. Without skipping a beat he changed his tune to: The top teeth are prone to decay because they can dry out if the child is a mouth breather. I asked why it was only the middle top two and not the others, and could it be that her enamel had not formed properly? Oddly he seemed to have never thought of this possibility and could barely even manage a coherent comment about it. When I posited that it just did not make evolutionary sense, he explained to me, with a big smile on his face, that he was an anthropology major and that the American Indians in southern California where he studied dentistry, got caries just like all the white people. I pointed out that they were eating the same diet (or worse) that the white people were eating. He looked confused and told me we were digressing.

It was a fruitless appointment. My daughter is too young to be treated (or so says this dentist), so for now we will just watch and wait. We're also supplementing her diet with cod liver oil, high-vitamin butter oil, and bone-broths to try to boost her mineral absorption. My best case scenario is that her teeth will remineralize or at least the decay will slow to a rate where she will be able to keep her teeth until they fall out naturally. If not, we will have to choose between an array of invasive and costly procedures. I'm hoping that we will ,at least, be able to postpone treatment until she is old enough to hold her mouth open and sit still.