There is a type of tooth decay called baby bottle caries!

Tooth decay, commonly known as tooth decay, is essentially a chronic infectious disease. But sometimes its onset speed can exceed your imagination. Today we will talk about a type of tooth decay that progresses rapidly.

In professional textbooks, tooth decay is defined as a chronic infectious disease. Therefore, most tooth decay is the result of various pathogenic factors acting on teeth over a period of time (a year or so). However, not all tooth decay will show a gentle face. Some even look a bit hideous. The type of tooth decay we are talking about today develops very quickly and specifically targets children.

01 The weak ones are always the ones who are squeezed!

As the saying goes, pick the softest persimmons. This is true everywhere. Deciduous teeth are relatively soft persimmons. Specifically, deciduous teeth have low calcification and poor acid resistance; the owners of deciduous teeth are young and have poor self-care ability, so they have poor awareness and consciousness to protect them; the owners of deciduous teeth also like to eat snacks, which is very detrimental to the protection of teeth.

Therefore, deciduous teeth can easily become the hardest hit areas of tooth decay.

One type of tooth decay, called baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD), is caused by long-term contact with liquids (such as milk and juice) in baby bottles, especially at bedtime or nap time. This can cause "sugar pools" to form around children's teeth, which are very conducive to bacterial culture.

02 Is the culprit the food or the bottle?

In the study of baby bottle tooth decay, a key question is whether baby bottle tooth decay is caused by the food in the bottle or by the bottle itself.

It goes without saying that the "contribution" of food cannot be ignored in the development of baby bottle caries. If you only drink water from a baby bottle, it is difficult to cause tooth decay.

However, both formula and breast milk contain a certain amount of sugar, and inherently carry the risk of causing tooth decay.

But some studies suggest that breastfeeding may be safer because it delivers milk directly to the throat, preventing it from sitting around the teeth.

If this theory is true, then breastfeeding mothers will seem even more helpless.

03 To prevent baby bottle tooth decay, these things should be done well

1. Try to adopt the traditional breastfeeding method;

2 No matter what you feed with a bottle, be careful not to drink for a long time, especially holding the nipple in your mouth;

3. Clean teeth well. New parents should take the initiative to take responsibility. Finger toothbrushes can be used in the early stage to cultivate children's brushing habits. Later, they can gradually transition to ordinary children's toothbrushes and use them in combination with fluoride toothpaste;

4 For children who do not know how to rinse their mouths, drinking a small amount of warm water after meals can have a similar cleansing effect as rinsing their mouths.

Parents are the first to take responsibility for protecting infants' and young children's teeth. I hope every couple who chooses to be parents can treat dental care correctly. The future of your children is in your hands.