How To Prevent Tooth Decay While Bottle Feeding
Posted on: 6 January 2015
Tooth decay in children usually happens with those that drink from bottles. It happens when a sugary drink stays inside the mouth of a child for an extended period of time without cleaning their teeth or gums. If this happens often enough, the sugars can slowly cause your child's teeth to decay. In order to prevent tooth decay from happening, be sure to follow these tips.
Breast Feed Your Child
Breast feeding is not always an option for some parents, but you should consider it if you are able to within the first year. By only feeding them at specific times instead of letting them drink from a bottle throughout the entire day, it will prevent their teeth from being constantly coated with sugary liquids.
Feed Your Child Water or Milk
Even though juices seem to be marketed towards young children, you should only be giving your child water or milk. Tooth decay is more likely to happen with children that are regularly fed juices, as the sugar content is much higher than milk.
While sugar free juices might seem like a better option for your child's teeth, be careful about those that use artificial sweeteners. Your young child will not be able to process artificial sweeteners effectively, causing damage to the pancreas.
Give Your Child A Pacifier During The Day
One of the reasons that tooth decay can be an issue with young children is because they feel the need to constantly be sucking on something throughout the day. If the pacifier is phased out too early, children tend to replace it with a bottle that has a sugary drink in it.
If your child is still allowed to suck on a pacifier, it will help prevent tooth decay from happening, as the need to constantly drink sugary drinks is replaced with something else.
Practice Proper Oral Hygiene
It is best to start good oral hygiene with your child early in life so that it helps keep their gums and teeth healthy. Even before their first tooth appears, you can get them used to the feeling of cleaning their gums by running a warm cloth over them during bath time. It will help prepare them for what it will be like to clean their gums once their teeth start to come in.
By following these tips, you will help prevent tooth decay from happening with your young child while they are still bottle feeding. Also, schedule appointments with a family dentist to assure you're doing all you can.
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