Bottle caries or childhood caries is a common oral problem in infants and young children, and we must be alert to ensure they are safe and avoid complications. Today we bring you seven simple tips to avoid bottle caries.
We must not think that, because they are milk teeth, it does not matter if they have cavities, since oral health is very important at any time and caries can cause pain, difficulties in eating, falling teeth ...
So, let's look at these tips to avoid the development of bottle caries in babies and children, taking into account the main risk factors.
Avoid inappropriate eating habits in babies, especially introduce sweet or sugary drinks, infusions, juices into the bottle ... It is not necessary to give this type of food to the baby and the first six months of life exclusive breastfeeding is recommended.
Nor do you impregnate the pacifier or any nipple with these sweets, honey ... Frequent ingestion of sugary drinks increases the risk of tooth decay, obesity ...
Do not let the child use the bottle full of milk or juices as a toy (he will have a lot of time in his mouth) or fall asleep drinking from it, since he will spend many hours with the remains in his mouth.
From complementary feeding, breast milk is still recommended and in any case water must be the main drink for older children. It is the best drink according to pediatricians, the healthiest. Water not only helps hydrate, it also helps cleanse bacteria from the mouth.
But if there is something that helps keep the mouth free of bacteria it is the habit of brush your teeth. Even before the first teeth appear, we must maintain proper oral hygiene of the baby. Simply cleaning the baby's gums with a damp cloth and when the teeth appear brush them gently after each meal, we will reduce the risk of tooth decay.
When it grows, change the bottle for the cups or cups, since they will not be "hooked" on them.
Take care of your own oral hygiene, since tooth decay can be spread and although there are different opinions about whether or not to give children kisses on the mouth, about whether or not to clean the baby's pacifier by sucking it, it is most likely that this can be done Transmit decay.
Before finishing, remember that prolonged breastfeeding is not related to the development of cavities and that you have to try to make babies' mouths as clean as possible, although there are other factors that can predispose little ones to having them.
We hope these seven tips to prevent bottle caries they are useful to you and put them into practice so that your children have a healthy mouth. And let's not forget to take them to the annual check-ups to the dentist!
