The benefits of breastfeeding are well known to all, although perhaps not everyone knows that among the many benefits it brings are also those related to the child’s oral health.
In this sense, breastfeeding the baby helps his mouth to develop correctly , reducing the risk of dental malocclusions by up to 50 percent, preparing him for chewing and favoring his breathing. We explain, step by step, how the suction of the mother’s breast influences all these aspects.
Better oral development
To begin to understand the incredible benefits that breastfeeding supposes for the baby, Dr. Juan Carlos Pérez Varela, president of the Spanish Society of Orthodontics, explains what the oral anatomy of the newborn is like:
“When a baby is born, the size of its upper jaw is larger than the lower one. Also, the lower jaw is further back than the upper jaw; that is, it is in a distal position.”
Breast suction stimulates the baby’s oral muscles , encourages the jaw to advance from its distal position, and promotes proper growth of the lower jaw. All this helps prevent dental malocclusions and mandibular retrognathisms by up to 50 percent, and favors a good relationship between the maxilla and the mandible.
But these benefits not only influence an aesthetically correct denture for the child , but also its functionality, avoiding future problems related to biting and speech.
In addition, and as we have also seen on other occasions, it is important to emphasize that it is not true that prolonged breastfeeding is associated with the appearance of cavities. In this regard, Dr. Pérez Varela clarifies that if these appear it will be due to a host of factors that have nothing to do with the fact that the baby breastfeeds.
Improves nasal breathing and chewing
And as if all this were not enough, babies fed with breastfeeding have a lower risk of atypical swallowing, of suffering problems related to chewing, oral breathing and difficulties in phonoarticulation of language.
“A nursing baby reinforces the physiological nasal breathing circuit , since, by not being able to breathe through the mouth (which is hermetically closed to suck), it exercises the fact of performing in a perfectly synchronized way the actions of sucking, swallowing and breathing through nose”
“Another advantage of breastfeeding on oral development is that it prevents the child from acquiring oral habits harmful to the oral cavity , such as thumb sucking or putting things in the mouth. The longer they are breastfed, the less they will suck. the finger or they will need to resort to pacifiers, since their non-nutritive suction needs are satisfied with the suction of the breast “- explains Juan Carlos Pérez Varela.
The incredible movements of the baby when sucking
All this happens thanks to the incredible movements that the baby makes with the mouth when sucking, and that take place in two phases:
- A first phase, in which the baby seals the mother’s nipple and part of the areola with his mouth , and the act of suckling begins. This is how the experts describe it:
“The back of the tongue and the baby’s hard palate catch the nipple, while making a tight seal with the lips and slightly lowering the soft palate and jaw. At this time, the lower jaw descends somewhat and in the anterior region a vacuum is formed, the posterior part remaining closed by the soft palate and posterior part of the tongue “ .
- A second phase, in which the baby brings the jaw forward to remove the milk , since it does not come out with simple suction.
“At this time, the lower jaw advances from a resting position until its alveolar edge is in front of the upper one. To make the milk come out, the baby presses the lower jaw to the nipple and squeezes it by means of an anteroposterior rubbing, thus achieving the exit of the milk flow. The tongue takes the shape of a spoon to slide the milk up to the soft palate . “
Experts emphasize that these movements are not the same in babies who take a bottle , because in that case the lips do not close as tightly and the mouth takes on an “O” shape. This prevents the mouth vacuum from being produced and the action of the tongue is hindered, which moves forward against the gum to regulate the flow of milk and remains flat, rather than spoon-shaped.
“With the bottle there is less exercise of the oral muscles that will tend to become hypotonic, that is, with less muscle tone. Therefore, the harmonious growth of bones and cartilage will not be favored, leaving the lower jaw in its distal position “
Therefore, once again the incredible benefits that breastfeeding has on the baby are evident, and how it can help, through its correct oral development, to make the incorporation of solids in the child’s diet more satisfactory.
Photos | iStock
Acknowledgments | SEDO
