Are you aware that as soon as the first tooth erupts above the gum line in your child’s mouth, tooth decay can occur? Thus, caring for your child’s mouth should commence if it hasn’t already. If teeth are visible, they need to be cared for daily with toothpaste. Ideally, you should use a dab of toothpaste roughly the size of a rice grain to clean their teeth. However, cleaning the teeth of your child is not enough. You should also exercise caution with which substances you are feeding to your child to help prevent baby bottle tooth decay. For more information about baby bottle tooth decay, consider the following:
Avoid common drinks that are known to contain ingredients that can damage your child’s tooth enamel. Including soft drinks, sports drinks, juice, sugar water, and any other high-sugar product. Furthermore, never coat or cover your child’s bottle with any sort of substance to encourage them to drink it, especially sugary sweet ones like honey.
One of the most hazardous risks posed by baby bottles happens when a child falls asleep with a bottle in their mouth. As they sleep, the ingredients in the bottle can pool in their mouth and cause baby bottle tooth decay. The longer a child is exposed to the substances, the longer time it can wear down their tooth enamel. Try to make sure your child never falls asleep with a bottle in their crib, so remove bottles and replace with a teething toy or pacifier as an alternate.
With baby bottle tooth decay prevention, your child’s smile will not only look better, but it can be better protected as well. If you would like to meet with Dr. Jeffrey Neal and our team at Who Does Your Teeth for an oral examination of your child’s smile, please call 804-447-1435 to schedule an appointment at our dentist office in Henrico, Virginia. We will ensure your child gets the proper treatments to ensure their smile can continue to grow properly for many years to come.