dentist...lidocaine...breastfeeding...WWYD?

Gftf7 · November 2013

At my dentist checkup this week, I found out I have periodontal disease and need to have 'scaling and root planing' done. The procedure will involve lidocaine for numbing. When I asked the dentist about the medicine and it's effect on breastfeeding, I was told it is totally safe to keep breastfeeding. But I was also told that the medicine stays in your system for a couple of days and that if I was concerned, I could pump milk in advance, then pump and dump for a couple of days.

LO nurses almost exclusively. I pump a few times a week to have BM to mix with baby oatmeal. But I'm fairly lazy about pumping, so have developed a 'just in time' mentality regarding having fresh BM in the fridge. I do have a small freezer stash, maybe 20-30 oz. I don't really know how much LO drinks each day, but imagine that amount would only last about a day.

Being I use the pump so seldomly, I'm a bit concerned about how my supply would be after 2-3 days of not nursing, two weeks in a row. The dental procedure will occur over two appointments, that are 1 week apart.

Has anyone had dental work done while breastfeeding? What would you do?

musicalmama5 · November 2013

I would do some research and see if it's safe for BFing. If you can avoid having to pump and dump, that would be best.

Gftf7 · November 2013

Yes, I am going to check with the lactation consultants at the hospital. LO has a well-baby visit next week, so I was going to check with the pedi also.

SammieJane · November 2013

I am a nurse, and literally numb people for a living; I numb for biopsies, and skin surgeries for a dermatologist. We use lido 1% and lido with 1% epi. I have numbed people who are breast feeding with and without the epi with the doctors discretion. For biopsies I really numb on such a small level anyway. The practitioner I work for says it is totally safe. I wouldn't use epi on someone pregnant, but you should be fine breast feeding. You could see if they would do just lido alone ( which is a category b even during pregnancy while alternatives such as carbocaine and marcaine are cat c). The problem with lido alone is it isn't always as effective. Sorry I was lurking on this board from January 13, hope I am not just rambling

, and that I am actually some help. If you don't feel comfortable ask about alternatives. Excuse any grammatical errors, I am mobile.

SidraJedi · November 2013

I had a wisdom tooth removed and I had lidocaine and nitrous and extra strength ibuprofen after. I nursed DD right after.
If i remember corectly The research That i did came up that just like ibuprofen, trace amounts of lidocaine get into your breastmilk and do not seem to effect nursing babies at all.

MommyPhoenix · November 2013

I had a filling for a minor cavity just recently. I can't remember the name of the numbing agent but it wasn't lidocaine. I just remember that my dentist said that it would take about 6 hours for my body to metabolize the drug. She cited that the research states it is "safe" to BF, however, as a mother herself and in her own opinion, she would pump and dump. I built up a stash for that day and had DH give DD the bottles. She nurses every 2-3hrs so we needed 2 bottles and I pumped and dumped twice before I could nurse her to sleep that night. I'm not sure this really helps since your situation is a bit different (over two appointments/weeks) and I don't have experience on how it would effect BM supply, but I do have to say that we have two dentists in the same office - The male dentist said it would be fine to BF, as did the female dentist, with her side note opinion that if it were her, she would pump and dump to be safe.

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dentist...lidocaine...breastfeeding...WWYD?

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