4 Ways to Avoid Bottle Rot




Baby bottle tooth decay can be a scary and painful problem for a child. It is caused when milk or sugary substances stay on your child’s teeth and is not rinsed away after feeding. The milk turns into bacteria that begin to eat away at the enamel. This then creates cavities and decay.  Don’t PANIC. These four easy tips can help your child avoid getting bottle rot.

1.     Always rinse the mouth or wipe the mouth after the bottle or breastfeeding
                  a. After your baby has eaten is when they are most susceptible to this problem. If they do not actually have any teeth, you’ll still want to gently wipe their gums with gauze or a soft cloth.

2.     See your dentist after the first tooth erupts
                  a. The first visit to the dentist is important. “It helps set up your child’s future dental health for success,” says Pediatric dentist, Dr. Cameron Fuller. This will also help to ensure if there are any problems developing that you can take care of them before the decay spreads to other teeth.

3.     Brush their teeth after meals
                  a. Just like adult teeth, says Dr. Fuller, "baby teeth can have food that sticks to them. In order to remove the food from their gums and teeth, you have to brush them."http://www.pediatricdentistryofredlands.com/our_team.html Early brushing will create a healthy habit early on for your child.

4.     Choose dental friendly snack for between meals
                  a. Fruits and vegetables or other foods high in water concentration help to wash away food from sticking to the teeth. If you ensure your child is eating healthy snacks, it can help support your child’s overall dental health. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Your comment will be approved after it has been read by one of our staff.

Popular posts from this blog

What is a dental abscess?

Image
One of the most common conditions affecting children's teeth are dental abscesses.  Children with severe cavities often have teeth that abscess.  Abscess of lower left primary tooth.  NOTE the tissue swelling on the tooth. Radiograph of abscess on middle tooth.  Note the dark outline of the short root. Dental abscesses often start out as large cavities on the teeth. Once the cavity invades the pulp of the tooth the infection spreads to the bone. At that point the tooth is no longer salvageable. A dental abscess is a swelling of the tissue around an infected tooth. The following symptoms may result from a dental abscess.  Children can often present with facial swelling, fever,  altered eating habits, poor concentration, poor sleep patterns, breathing problems, and general malaise. The treatment that is always recommended is antibiotics and extraction. 
Read more

A gap between the teeth

Image
When your baby’s teeth first begin to come in and you notice that gap between their teeth when they smile, the family may coo that it’s cute. "However, it is very important that if your child has a gap in their teeth due to a maxillary frenum, or another reason, that it be corrected," says pediatric dentist Dr. Cameron Fuller. Your child’s education, speech and self-confidence is dependent upon it being corrected at an early age.             As your child gets older they are working on saying certain sounds. Children who are younger than five should be developing the ability to say all of the sounds. After five if these sounds are not solidified it will make it much more difficult for them to learn to correctly speak. “And by age seven if the sounds are not correct they run the risk of never being able to say them correctly,” says Dr. Cameron Fuller . By age five and six your child should be able to say th...
Read more

Baby teeth: What you should know.

The importance of oral health for a child is paramount.  So many aspects of a child's development depend on a healthy oral environment. At pediatric dentistry of Redlands we specialize in children's oral health, especially prevention. Here is a quick read from CNN on " Baby's teeth: What you should Know ."  
Read more