Nursing caries, or tooth decay, can be caused when your child sleeps with a bottle. This condition is also called baby bottle tooth decay. It is caused when a child goes to bed with a bottle filled with milk or juice, anything except water.<\/p>\n
Nursing bottle caries usually affects children between the ages of 1 and 2. If your infant falls asleep while breast feeding, he is also at risk.<\/p>\n
Bottle tooth decay develops when baby teeth come into frequent contact with too much sugar. Bacteria in the mouth feed on the sugar, multiply, and produce acid as a waste product. The acid attacks the teeth and tooth enamel, resulting in tooth decay.<\/p>\n
Sugar is found in:<\/p>\n
When an infant falls asleep with a bottle, or uses a bottle or sippy cup for extended periods of time, the sugar can coat the teeth. This causes the teeth to decay more quickly in such children.<\/p>\n
The caries caused by decay can occur in any of the teeth. However, they most often occur on the upper front teeth (called ‘upper incisors’). Caries can appear as dark or brown spots on the teeth. As the decay worsens, children might experience pain and swelling around the teeth.<\/p>\n
Infant caries can be a serious problem. A child needs their teeth to chew, speak, and smile. Baby teeth also hold the space for adult teeth. Pain and infection will likely result if a tooth is lost too early or if tooth decay is left untreated.<\/p>\n
In addition, if the baby teeth don’t develop properly, your baby may develop poor eating habits or have speech problems. Adult teeth may grow in crookedly or cause crowding.<\/p>\n
Prevention of baby bottle tooth decay is crucial to ensure the healthy development of your child’s teeth.<\/p>\n
It’s possible to prevent infant caries by being conscious of your child’s bottle-feeding habits and properly cleaning your child’s teeth.<\/p>\n
Here are some tips to prevent it:<\/p>\n
Don’t put your child to sleep with a bottle of juice or milk. The sugar in the liquid will remain on your infant’s teeth for hours.<\/p>\n
Don’t let your child walk around with a bottle of juice or milk dangling from the mouth.<\/p>\n
Avoid filling bottles with sugar water, soft drinks, or juices.<\/p>\n
Teach your child how to drink from a cup around 6 months of age. The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends switching to a cup by your child’s first birthday.<\/p>\n
Avoid prolonged pacifier use. Never dip a pacifier in honey or syrup. Never give honey to a baby under 12 months of age for any reason.<\/p>\n
Encourage healthy eating habits, and limit sweets in general.<\/p>\n
Wipe your infant’s gums after a feeding. Use a cloth to remove food bits or plaque.<\/p>\n
Begin brushing your child’s teeth as soon as they grow in.<\/p>\n
When your child is old enough not to swallow it, use fluoridated toothpaste. Fluoride helps the teeth resist acid. Note: Fluoride can be dangerous if swallowed, so monitor your child until they get the hang of it.<\/p>\n
Floss your child’s teeth after all of them have grown in.<\/p>\n
Have a dentist inspect your child’s teeth regularly.<\/p>\n
Remember: starting early is the key to a lifetime of good dental health.<\/p>\n
By Dr Rochelle Sequeira<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nursing caries, or tooth decay, can be caused when your child sleeps with a bottle. This condition is also called baby bottle tooth decay. It is caused when a child goes to bed with a bottle filled with milk or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pormoll"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2800,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions\/2800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWard no. 16<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n