Toddler Cavities
By Dr. Linda Niessen -- Baylor College of Dentistry STORY: TODDLER CAVITIES SCRIPT #516 SHOOT: 6/12/03
Monday, June 23, 2003
AIRDATE: Monday, June 23, 2003
For more than five hours, little Jacob is undergoing extensive dental work. He has five cavities from drinking milk in a bottle at bedtime.
“Even though we were brushing his teeth before going to bed, when I gave him the bottle at night, the milk was sitting on his teeth and during that time, it was decaying and causing those cavities,” Jacob’s mother, Teresa Sledge, said.
Even if you faithfully brush your toddler’s teeth, giving your child a bottle of milk or juice at bedtime could drastically increase the chance of a cavity -- one that can be quite complicated to treat.
Young kids with painful cavities often require general anesthesia, or a less risky procedure called IV sedation. Filling even one cavity can become a major ordeal.
“Two-year-olds really can’t understand why you are treating them and why they have to hold still and their attention spans are pretty short,” Dr. Carolyn Wilson said.
So good oral health saves both child and parent a lot of anguish. Here are a few things parents can do to prevent cavities.
- Start brushing teeth as soon as you see them.
- Avoid putting anything sweet in a bottle before a nap or bedtime.
- And move from a bottle to a cup as soon as possible.
- If your toddler has trouble going to bed without the bottle, here’s the safest approach: only put water in the bottle.
For Baylor College of Dentistry, The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center in Dallas, I 'm Dr. Linda Niessen.
Dr. Linda Niessen, clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences and the Office of Communications and Development at Baylor College of Dentistry, hosts Dental Health Check, the only weekly dental feature shot on location in the nation.
