Whats the difference between nursing and bottle feeding while falling asleep as far as tooth decay is concered

i hear that falling asleep with milk pooling in their mouths will rot the teeth but some babies nurse until they are 2 or more so how does it differ when most nursing babies are in and out of sleep like a bottle fed baby while drinking milk? did i word that right, im sorry if its a stupid question im just curious.

Whats the difference between nursing and bottle feeding while falling asleep as far as tooth decay is concered
B/c a mother who is breastfeeding can't leave the baby with a breast in their mouth. They will fall asleep on the brest yes but when their latch is unhooked they will swallow any milk left in their mouths. Where as a formula fed baby can be given a bottle and the parents walk out of the room and the bottle could ultimately be left in their all night with them and never taken out of their mouth. VERY UNSAFE
Reply:both the anatomy of the container and what the liquid is.





anatomy of the container:


when a baby is breastfeeding, the mother's nipple is very far back in the mouth, no where near the teeth, almost down the baby's throat... so milk really does not come into contact with the teeth. a bottle's nipple is short and the milk can more easily pool in the mouth, especially around the teeth and cheecks.





the liquid:


formula has sugar, formula has lots of other things that can cause tooth decay as does juice and plain cow's milk in bottles. breastmilk can actually fight tooth decay as the live antibodies help with the bacteria in the baby's mouth.





http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/to...





*** falling asleep w/ a bottle of breastmilk will not cause tooth decay, but can pose a choking hazard... so even that's a bad idea :)
Reply:Breastmilk has antibiotic qualities. Formula contains corn syrup (often called fructose). Cows milk has been pasturized, so lacks antibodies, but contains milk sugar.





Study done some years ago placed enamel into breastmilk, formula and regular whole cows milk. Neither the breastmilk nor the cows milk showed any signs of decay after 6 weeks, while the formula enamel started showing decay in only 2 weeks. 6 months later, the breastmilk STILL showed no decay. I don't recall the results of the cows milk, but I know it did show some decay later on.
Reply:Before the use of the baby bottle, dental decay in baby teeth was rare. Two dentists, Dr. Brian Palmer and Dr. Harold Torney, have done extensive research on human skulls (from 500-1000 years ago) in their study of tooth decay in children. Of course these children were breastfed, probably for an extended length of time. Their research has led them to conclude that breastfeeding does not cause tooth decay.





One of the reasons for nighttime bottles causing tooth decay is the pooling of the liquid in baby's mouth (where the milk/juice bathes baby's teeth for long periods of time). Breastmilk is not thought to pool in the baby's mouth in the same way as bottled milk because the milk doesn't flow unless the baby is actively sucking. Also, milk from the breast enters the baby's mouth behind the teeth. If the baby is actively sucking then he is also swallowing, so pooling breast milk in the baby's mouth appears not to be an issue.