Proven! Breastfeeding Can Boost Your Baby’s Dental Health

July 29, 2015

While breastfeeding is highly recommended for your baby’s overall health, did you know that it can also make your baby’s teeth strong?

Besides all the nourishment, breast milk contains protective chemicals that help reduce the acids in your baby’s mouth, giving it healthier teeth and gums. Also, babies who are breastfed have a lower chance of misalignment of teeth and have better facial features, due to a properly set teeth structure.

According to a news article published on HealthDay,^[1] babies who are exclusively breast-fed for at least three to six months are at a lower risk of overbite (a condition in which your upper teeth are too far in front of your lower teeth) and babies who were breast-fed for at least three to six months had lower chances of misaligned teeth.

Feeding your baby directly from the breast instead of feeding breast milk through a bottle has more benefits. When your baby drinks milk straight from the breast, it develops proper oral cavities and lays the foundation for better teeth. It also encourages your baby to develop a proper muscular tone around the jaw area.

Doctors suggest that while breastfeeding does have many benefits for the overall health of your baby’s dental area, introducing pacifiers can potentially negate some of the benefits, as it can put excess pressure on your baby’s developing jaws and make them misaligned or lead to other jaw-related conditions.

What You Can Do

If you are exclusively breastfeeding your baby, continue it till the baby is at least six months old, post which you should feed her along with solid foods till she is at least a year old.
If you haven’t been able to breastfeed your baby for any reason, follow basic dental hygiene and start caring for her teeth and gums even before her first tooth arrives. Here’s how you can help your baby maintain a good oral hygiene.

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References:
1. http://consumer.healthday.com/women-s-health-information-34/breast-feeding-news-82/breast-feeding-may-have-dental-benefits-study-suggests-700349.html