Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

Executive summary about tooth decay by Elizabeth Pantley

Letting your baby fall asleep every night with a bottle of milk. formula puts him at risk for Baby Bottle Tooth Decay (BBTD). When your baby falls asleep with a bottle nipple in his mouth, the liquid continues to drip out and pools around your baby's teeth.

When milk, juice, formula and even breastmilk pool around your baby's teeth, the sugars these drinks contain combine with bacteria and create acid that attacks the teeth. Baby teeth are very important to your child's health and growth--too important to lose and more important than whatever need that sleepytime bottle satisfies. Check your baby's teeth frequently for any chalky white spots, white streaks, dark blotches.

How to prevent baby bottle tooth decay?

1. Don't let your baby doze off with a bottle of milk, and formula. If your baby needs a bottle to fall asleep, fill it with water.

2. Always be sure your baby's pacifier is clean.

3. Brush your baby's teeth at least twice a day--morning and night.

4. Ask your child's doctor if your baby should take fluoride supplements. If your baby drinks formula, he may be getting fluoride from this.

5. Inspect your baby's teeth frequently and have them checked by your child's doctor regularly.

Tooth Decay

Executive summary about tooth decay by Bethany Thivierge

Tooth decay, which is also called dental cavities, is the destruction of the outer surface of a tooth. The plaque bacteria sticking to tooth enamel use the sugar and starch from food particles in the mouth to produce acid.

Tooth decay is a common health problem, second in prevalence only to the common cold. Although anyone can have a problem with tooth decay, children and senior citizens are the two groups at highest risk. Baby bottle tooth decay is a dental problem that frequently develops in infants that are put to bed with a bottle containing a sweet liquid, also called nursing-bottle caries and bottle-mouth syndrome. The bacteria in the mouth use this sugar to produce acid that destroys the child's teeth. The upper front teeth are typically the ones most severely damaged; the lower front teeth receive some protection from the tongue. As decay progresses, the damage to the child's teeth becomes obvious.

Tooth decay requires the simultaneous presence of three factors: plaque bacteria, sugar, and a vulnerable tooth surface. When the decay reaches the center of the tooth, the resulting inflammation produces a toothache.

Tooth decay develops at varying rates. The dentist may suspect tooth decay if a dark spot is seen during a visual examination. Front teeth may be inspected for decay by shining a light from behind the tooth. Areas of decay, especially between the teeth, will appear as noticeable shadows when teeth are transilluminated. Dentists want to initially examine primary teeth between 12 and 24 months. Children still drinking from a bottle anytime after their first birthday are likely to have tooth decay.

To treat most cases of tooth decay in adults, the dentist removes all decayed tooth structure, shapes the sides of the cavity, and fills the cavity with an appropriate material, such as silver amalgam. In cases of baby bottle tooth decay, the dentist must assess the extent of the damage before deciding on the treatment method.

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