Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

Good oral hygiene is crucial to overall health no matter how old you are. All Coast Dental in Pacific Beach welcomes patients of all ages, and we’re aware that people in different age brackets have different needs. Among infants and toddlers, one of the biggest challenges is what dentists call Baby Bottle Tooth Decay, so we wanted to inform parents of how to avoid it.

The point of brushing our teeth is to remove sugary residue that is consumed by oral bacteria. Those bacteria excrete acid, which gets caught in the biofilm of the teeth and causes tooth decay and gum recession, so we want to deprive them of their food source. But not only are babies unable to brush their own teeth, they’re also dependent on whatever they’re given to drink and often are allowed to keep their bottles for a long time. This means that their teeth are being coated in milk instead of water and the residue may remain in place for several hours. Tellingly, decay tends to appear on the fronts of the top incisors, exactly where milk is contacting the teeth after leaving the bottle.

The keys to preventing Baby Bottle Tooth Decay are brushing and water. Parents should start brushing their babies’ teeth as soon as the first one emerges. In between brushing, babies should be given mostly water to drink, and they should be given water after drinking milk to provide their teeth with a rinse. Toddlers also should not be given juice, which is high in sugar, until they are old enough to drink from cups.

Drs. Julie and Joseph Boulos operate All Coast Dental at 2180 Garnet Ave, Suite 1-K, Pacific Beach, California, 92109. To schedule an appointment, call 858-270-4904 or visit All Coast Dental and fill out a contact sheet.