For Better Dental-Facial Development
Malocclusion literally means bad bite, which can show up in children as crowded or buck teeth, weak chin, deep overbite, open bite, under bite, finger sucking, teeth grinding.
Adults with malocclusion often suffer neck pain, headaches, back pain, low thyroid,, depression, anxiety, sleep apnea, teeth grinding, dental sensitivities, root canals, accelerated tooth loss. Besides a self-conscious smile, malocclusion drives up both dental and medical bills.
Even as expanders and braces are for correction in children and increasingly in adults, we need to ask: What can be done for malocclusion prevention? The answers lie in breastfeeding and proper weaning.
Breastfeeding is long known to promote jaw development and reduce malocclusion. Many of the sickest patients I see have malocclusion with a history of little or no breastfeeding and fed the wrong (and often processed) foods as a baby. This led to repeated episodes of ear-nose-throat infections followed by antibiotics and subsequent gut dysbiosis in which bad bacteria rule.
Weaning from breastfeeding is critical. “A topic rarely discussed, yet phenomenally important, relates to the food children and babies are fed, and they way in which they are weaned. This can have a profound impact on your child’s future dental- and physical health”, says Dr. Joseph Mercola (1).
Baby-Led Weaning is a natural way to grow a baby, develop the jaws, and reduce malocclusion.
Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) is a term coined and a book by Gill Rapley, a former British midwife and health visitor (2). Baby-Led Weaning means introducing table foods when the baby can sit up and grasp things, such as a carrot, which coincides with the start of gag reflex in the throat as protection. In a nutshell, Baby-Led Weaning is Breastfeeding exclusively in the first 6 months or so; avoid bottles and use modified cups whenever possible. Start weaning when the baby can sit up and grasp thing to put to mouth, but continue breastfeeding for up to 3 years. Pre-chewing organic produce and whole foods from close-to-home farms by parents before feeding it to the baby — this is our ancestral feeding pattern
For more details, you can visit: http://www.babyledweaning.com. The bottom of the home page includes a nice delineation of the term “wean” in the British and American sense — it is worth checking out to set straight your mind and your baby’s mouth and total health.
Dr. Liao’s comments:
Baby-Led Weaning sets the jaws on the right developmental track. From a holistic mouth doctor’s perspective, nothing can be more natural and sensible than BLW. This book is a much-needed resource for concerned parents and growing babies. Breastfeeding and proper weaning are the two keys to healthier children and lower health care costs.
In that post (2), Dr. Mercola interviewed Dr. Kevin Boyd, a pediatric dentist who turned from drill-and-fill to Evolution Oral Medicine doctor. Dr. Boyd says that until 12,000 years ago, our ancestor’s diet consisted of vegetables, fruits, and meats only, but no grains until agriculture was widespread and grain processing took place. They had no rampant malocclusion, tooth decay, nor bone loss around teeth like modern humans, according to Dr. Boyd.
Dr. Weston A. Prices research shows what whole foods rich in growth factors can do for dental-facial development (3)
Resources:
2. Baby-Led Weaning, a book by Tracey Murkett and Gill Rapley
3. Nutrition & Physical Degeneration, by Weston A. Price, DDS