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Publication #FAR8058

 

Preventing Tooth Decay in Babies1

Joseph Hong and Linda B. Bobroff2

Figure 1. 
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When my children were very young, I remember those late nights when I was no longer breastfeeding and the only thing that could easily get my babies back to sleep was a bottle. It was tempting to let them keep the bottle to make sure they'd stay asleep, but luckily I was aware that such a practice could set them up for a lifetime of dental problems.

When babies fall asleep with a bottle of milk or other sweet liquid, they are at risk for a condition known as baby-bottle tooth decay (Marino, 1984). As the liquid in the bottle drips, it pools in the child's mouth, exposing their emerging teeth to carbohydrates and resulting in acid production. During breastfeeding, milk does not pool because sucking and swallowing are required to release the milk from the milk ducts in the breast.

Aside from never letting your baby go to sleep with a bottle in his or her mouth, an effective way to prevent baby bottle tooth decay is to include fluoride in the diet (Jones, 2005). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the best way to obtain fluoride is through local fluoridated drinking water (CDC, 2001). A healthy diet that is low in sugary foods and beverages is also helpful. And never give your baby any object (such as a toothbrush or pacifier) that was in someone else's mouth since bacteria are transmitted through saliva.

Teach your children proper oral hygiene when they get their first tooth. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children first visit a dentist at one year of age, or 6 months after the first tooth appears (Houpt, 2001). Finally, although it may seem loving to give your child a bottle in bed, help your infant or toddler doze off in other relaxing ways instead.

Listening, learning, and living together: it's the science of life. "Family Album" is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and of WUFT-FM. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our Web site at http://www.familyalbumradio.org.

To listen to the radio broadcast:

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References

Centers for Disease Control. (2001). Recommendations for using fluoride to prevent and control dental caries in the united states. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 50 (RR14), 1-42.

Houpt, M. (2001). Year one dental visit - for whose benefit? Pediatric Dentistry, 23, 463.

Jones, S. (2005). The effective use of fluorides in public health. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 83(9), 670-6.

Lewis, D. (1995). Prevention of dental caries. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 152, 836-846.

Marino, R. (1984). Nursing bottle caries: characteristics of children at risk. Clinical Paediatrics, 28(3), 129-31.

Slavkin, H. (1999). Streptococcus mutans: early childhood caries and new opportunities. Journal of the American Dental Association, 130, 1787-92.

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR8058, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Broadcast as program 421 in April 2009. Published on EDIS August 2012. In the interest of time and/or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Joseph Hong, undergraduate student, and Linda B. Bobroff, professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.