Nursing mothers are sometimes concerned about seeing the dentist for dental work while they are still breastfeeding their child. The good news is, dental materials are safe for breastfeeding mothers and won’t impact breast milk. You can indeed have laser dentistry, and use sedation methods during your treatment, without having to pump and dump the breast milk.
Local anesthetics such as lidocaine, for example, doesn’t affect your breast milk. Even bupivacaine, which lingers in your system longer than carbocaine or lidocaine, is safe since it’s milk levels are “zero”, so says Dr. Thomas Hale, who researched and wrote Medications & Mother’s Milk, an international reference for evaluating medication use in breastfeeding moms.
The oral sedative valium can also be taken since the levels of anesthetic in your breastmilk after the one dose before your dental visit is still considered minimal to zero. In fact, most medications in oral and IV sedation for dental work is compatible with breastfeeding.
Not only that, but even nitrous oxide sedation is safe for nursing mothers. It is mostly insoluble while it is in your bloodstream, and is gone within 3-5 minutes after you stop inhaling it. It travels from your brain to your lungs and then back into the room air after you stop breathing it in as well so it doesn’t impact your milk.
As you can see, you can definitely have dental work done while you are nursing your child. But if you have any concerns, you can always speak with our dentist, Dr. Golgoun Habibi or Dr. Saman Sajid. Our Aesthetics & Essentials Dental Group team in Mountain View, California, can be reached by calling 650-623-0003.
