Baby bottle tooth decayis that type of decay which develops rapidly both in surface and depth, especially in the upper front teeth.
Causes of baby bottle tooth decay:
Using the bottle with juices, sweetened tea or milk to soothe the infant or to put them to sleep.
Soothers soaked in honey or other sweetened products.
The onset of baby bottle tooth decay is favored by prolonged contact of baby teeth with sweetened liquids.
The sugars present in an infant’s diet maintain the bacterial flora in the oral cavity. This bacterial flora generates acids that demineralize the enamel of the teeth, causing caries in children.
The longer the surface of baby teeth is covered with sweet liquids, the greater the chance of developing baby bottle tooth decay.
Baby bottle tooth decay develops quickly, the child does not feel pain until the teeth are severely damaged.
How do we prevent baby tooth decay?
the child should not fall asleep with a bottle or pacifier soaked in sweets.
to ensure proper oral hygiene after every meal:
clean your child’s gums and baby teeth with a sterile compress soaked in unsweetened chamomile tea.
after the eruption of the first baby tooth, use the baby toothbrush and toothpaste.
carefully examine your child’s baby teeth daily to detect early the appearance of cavities in children and treat them effectively.
remove, as far as possible, sweetened liquids from your child’s diet.
as soon as the first baby teeth appear, visits to the dentist should be started in order to detect early any cavities in children.
Predisposing factors for caries in children:
genetic,
serious metabolic disorders from the first year of life (rickets),
systemic diseases,
vicious habits (bottle feeding during sleep, sweetened pacifiers),
poor nutrition,
poor hygiene.
Treatment
Baby bottle tooth decay is a major problem and requires dental treatment.
Depending on the degree of progression of these cavities in children and their depth, treatment can range from fluoridation of the teeth to tooth extraction.
Baby bottle tooth decay is more common in the upper front baby teeth and less so in the lower front teeth, which are protected by saliva.
Specific to this type of tooth decay, which distinguishes it from other types of caries in children, is its installation on the smooth surfaces on the buccal and oral surfaces of the teeth.
At first it appears as white, chalky spots. At this stage it is possible to stop the development of the caries process by re-mineralizing the affected surfaces with local fluoridation.
It is important to detect baby bottle tooth decay in its early stages and treat it appropriately. Depending on the degree of development of such cavities in children, treatment by filling, endodontic or, less frequently, crown capping will be used.
