June 29th, 2007 by admin

Preventing Infant Tooth Decay

by Tammy Pinarbasi

Tooth decay in infants and small children is commonly referred to as baby bottle tooth decay. It results from prolonged contact to sweet liquids that cling to the infant’s or child’s teeth. When the built up sugars combine with the bacteria in the mouth it makes an acid which begins to eat away at the teeth. Many parents do not realize that almost any liquid you put in your child’s bottle unless it is water contains sugars that can cause serious damage to your infant’s teeth. Many times the prolonged exposure is the result of allowing the infant to sleep with their bottle or to be allowed to continuously have a bottle in their mouth. Baby bottle tooth decay can cause serious damage to baby teeth as well as affect their permanent teeth. The following are steps you can take to help ensure proper dental hygiene and avoid tooth decay in infants and small children.

• Clean baby’s mouth, for smaller infants after all feedings clean the baby’s teeth and gums with a clean wash cloth. You may also use a toothbrush designed especially for infants. 
• Only give bottles for feedings. Do not allow infant to just suck on bottle between feedings.
• Never put infant to bed with a bottle. Many infants by 8 months of age have outgrown nighttime feedings. Infants requiring nighttime feedings should get up to be fed not allowed to lay in bed with bottle.
• Once the infant is older and has 5 or 6 teeth you can clean your infants teeth with a small child sized soft bristle toothbrush and water.
• Encourage drinking from a cup. By about one year your infant should be ready to be weaned off the bottle and begin using a cup which will prevent liquids from building up on their teeth.
• Around the age of 2 your child should have their teeth cleaned at least twice a day. Practice with your child on swishing and spitting water out of mouth. Once the child is able to do this without swallowing, you may introduce fluoride toothpaste. Only use a very small amount to prevent them from accidentally swallowing too much toothpaste.  

There many fine products available to aid in healthy dental hygiene for your infant or small child. Consult your family dentist as to which products they would recommend. Taking care of your infants teeth and gums now will aid in a healthy mouth for years to come as well as encourage healthy dental habits they will carry with them into their adulthood.

This article is written by Tammy Pinarbasi, mother of 3. Tammy Pinarbasi is the owner of Parent Super Site, Super Parents Talk and Recipe Super Source. This article may be reprinted as long as author information remains intact and all hyperlinks remain active in online publications.

Article Source: Parent Super Site Article Directory