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Home › Articles › Dental Health › Dental Dangers

Dental Dangers

Why Taking Care of Baby's Teeth Starts Now

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"It's easy to tell someone they shouldn't put their baby to bed with a bottle in his mouth, but as the mother of a 10-month-old I know that's not always practical," says Dr. Elisa Mello, a pediatric dentist in New York City. "If your baby needs a bottle to get to sleep, introduce a water bottle instead of milk. As for cleaning his mouth, I don't always get to do it immediately. Sometimes, he falls asleep and I have to do it then. But I know firsthand that wiping his gums makes an unbelievable difference in keeping his mouth clean."

Baby Decay
Unfortunately, as soon as teeth start coming in, they can become decayed. One of the most common causes is baby bottle tooth decay, which happens when babies are allowed to nurse continuously or sleep with a bottle of milk, juice or sugar water. The liquids break down into sugar, pool around the baby's teeth during sleep and cause them to decay.

"You wouldn't let your baby chew candy all night, and letting them sleep with a bottle is doing basically the same thing to their teeth," Dr. Mello says. "People think babies can't get cavities, but they can. A 5-month-old can have dental decay."

In fact, 20 percent of all children younger than age 3 have cavities, according to Dr. Hayes. "That didn't just start when they were 2 years, 11 months old. That decay had been building up for years," Dr. Hayes says.

She also points out that when babies have decay, they have an infection. "A child shouldn't have an ongoing infection, of any kind, for years," says Dr. Hayes. "Parents wouldn't allow it in any other situation. Yet, many people don't unde

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