To put this finding into perspective, we can examine the Stephan curve, which is used in dentistry to illustrate how frequency of food or drink intake is just as, if not more, important as the presence of this food or drink in the mouth when it comes to cavity formation (Stephan & Hemmens, 1947), see Figure 1, whenever a child puts food or drink his mouth, this causes a drop in the pH of the mouth. The mouth has a neutral pH of 7, with a critical pH of 5.5. This pH of 5.5 is termed the “critical pH" because below this pH is the danger zone" where tooth structure begins to break down during the caries process (Stephan & Hemmensi). Therefore, frequency, repeated and prolonged exposure, along with increased access to feeding while bed sharing may invoke a significant or several prolonged drops in the pH of the child's mouth. This significant pH drop increases the total time throughout the night spent in the "danger zone" of the Stephan curve. Dental research has shown this drop in pH is especially significant if there is already plaque on the teeth that can then result in cavity formation (ronezu et al., 2006).
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry(AAPD) child is seen by a dentist by the age of 1 or with the eruption of the first tooth(AAPD, 2009). Unfortunately, this guideline not readily available to mothers and it is common for dental care to be initiated much later in childhood (Divaris, Vann, Baker, & Lee, 2012). By age 1, not only have several teeth erupted and are therefore susceptible to caries, but family patterns and habits well established. The purpose of this study was to examine the patterns of cosleeping, specificaly bed-sharing, of women who breastfeed ad libitum through the night and to understand recommendations given by the women's healthcare providers(HCPs) regarding the child's oral health