11 Apr

Baby Bottle Tooth Decay Advice from City of London Dentist

Your City of London dentist says that, “putting your baby or very young child to bed with almost any liquid but water can result in baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD).” BBTD can be caused by almost any liquid but water. It can result from having your baby fall asleep sucking on formula, juice, milk, soft drinks, and sugared drinks and water with sugar in it. Also, by allowing them to breastfeed for too long or suck on their formula bottle for too long, can result in BBTD. Sugary drinks building up in a baby’s mouth produces acids using the oral bacteria already present. The upper front teeth are the one’s mostly affected in BBTD syndrome. This causes problems with your child’s primary teeth and can even affect the adult teeth. Here are some pointers from your City of London dentist about keeping your child’s teeth healthy; 1) Do not put your child to bed with a bottle; 2) restrict your child’s bottle feedings to mealtimes; 3) your child should learn to drink from a cup as soon as possible; 4) clean your child’s mouth regularly; and, 5) use a small soft toothbrush and water to clean your child’s teeth. At 2 years of age, your child should be brushing their teeth twice daily with a very small about of toothpaste.