Rampant dental decay in the baby teeth may be apparent as soon as they begin coming out of your child’s mouth by the age of 6 months.  Baby teeth should be white and blemish-free as they come out. If they are discolored, the likely cause is dental caries, or tooth decay.

Nursing Bottle Caries

As your child sleeps, both the rates of swallowing and saliva flow decrease. As a result, sugars present in formula, milk, breast milk or juice will remain in the mouth. These sugars are used by bacteria, which are always present in the mouth, to produce acids that can result in uncontrollable rampant nursing caries.

Rampant dental decay seen with "childhood caries" or "nursing bottle caries" is becoming more and more common. Teeth become decayed as they come out - making treatment very difficult.

You need to stop night feeding, or at least use a bottle that contains only plain water or a sugar free product. Furthermore, parents often give their children “Sippy Cups” and fill them with juice. Constantly drinking from a Sippy Cup during the day or in bed at night can also result in early childhood caries. Parents should only give the cup to the child when he or she is thirsty and actively drinking, not as a constant snack source on an ad-lib basis. Furthermore, giving sugary drinks to a child at night in order to stop late night crying is extremely hazardous to a child’s dental health.

Breast-Feeding & Caries

The question of breast-feeding producing rampant dental decay of the primary teeth has been resolved. By about 6 months, almost all children are on pureed foods as well as using the breast or bottle for liquids. Ad-lib breast feeding or ad-lib bottle feeding in combination with pureed foods and lack of brushing, can lead to dental decay.  The extend of decay in breast-fed children is less than for children who snack ad-lib on a bottle of apple juice or powdered fruit drink. If mothers insist on breast-feeding ad lib, the child’s teeth should be brushed clean of plaque before feeding so that the child need not be awaked after feeding for brushing.

Treatment

If dental decay is present, the diet must be changed, the teeth need repair or removal and oral hygiene and topical therapy needs to begin. It is just not acceptable to “wait and see”, as matters will only get worse. We advise you visit a pediatric dentist, and not a general dentist, as infant caries are difficult to treat and a serious health concern.