What are the safest dental options for a missing front tooth while breastfeeding?

April 23, 2012 10:04 AM

What are the safest dental options for a missing front tooth while breastfeeding? I am breastfeeding my infant son and I need to have get a dental implant or a bridge for a missing front tooth. I am considering delaying the procedure until he is done nursing -- at least 10 more months -- so that he is not exposed to anything toxic.

However, I need to have a temporary tooth until then since it is my front tooth. I already had one temporary put in that was made of composite material. The dentist assured me it was BPA-free, however when I asked to see the materials list it showed two different forms of BPA (BISPHENOL A POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL DIETHER DIMETHACRYLATE and BISPHENOL A DIGLYCIDYL ETHER METHACRYLATE). I am switching dentist and getting that temporary replaced tomorrow with bpa free composite or a dental flipper. My question is what is the safest thing to do for my son? Is a dental flipper safe to have in your mouth? From what I understand flippers are made of acrylic. Or should I go ahead with the implant while I am nursing? Or should I do another composite temporary that is BPA free? Thanks for any help!

posted by bobbyno to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

Get your dentist to fit you with a temporary "flipper". They're plastic and they fit on the roof of your mouth and against your other teeth. They're also inexpensive, lightweight, and comfortable. I had one for one of my upper front teeth that lasted for years until I got something more permanent. I've never had an implant but have friends who have and it's a very elaborate and somewhat painful procedure. You could also get a more permanent partial removable device. As long as your whole tooth, root and all, is gone neither a flipper nor a partial will require anything other than having weird gook in your mouth for a few minutes to make a mold.
posted by mareli at 10:28 AM on April 23, 2012

Flippers also have some small amount of BPA, according to my dentist dad, and he didn't seem too concerned about the risks when I wore one (which was for a year and a half, daily). I'm not sure the amount you'd absorb would even make it to your breastmilk, but I'm not a doctor or scientist. Getting an implant is a process, but I don't remember anything happening or being inserted that was toxic.
posted by leesh at 10:46 AM on April 23, 2012

I totally support your desire to minimize your son's exposure to toxic chemicals, but I wonder whether the impact of one tooth's worth of BPA is going to make a difference one way or another, and I suspect that your best bet might be to just not worry about it too much.

It is really hard to balance risks, especially when it comes to kids, but if you think about all the risks you are going to take with your son and your son is going to take on his own over the course of his life, the risk from this tooth might add up to one phone call taken while you're driving him in the car, or losing track of him in the grocery store for ten minutes, or a couple of rides on his grandfather's tractor or something like that. Minimize the risk, but recognize that you can't eliminate all of it.

Maybe you could get a removable tooth that you could take out at night? Cut your exposure in half!
posted by mskyle at 12:22 PM on April 23, 2012 [5 favorites]

I just want to second mskyle's suggestion that some of the BPA concerns are overblown. BPA is possibly a concern as an endocrine disruptor, but the amount of BPA that leaches from plastics is related to the temperature at which the plastic is. So, you can understand why it might be a good idea to get BPA-free baby bottles (since you often warm milk up in very hot water), but I'm less convinced about the need for a BPA-free tooth, particularly given that it's not the baby's tooth and it's only one.
posted by Betelgeuse at 1:06 PM on April 23, 2012