The most common disease among toddlers is tooth decay
Tooth decay is more common than even asthma, and cavities in baby teeth are on the rise. Cavities can form when the specific type of bacteria that cause cavities are present in the mouth along with sugar. The bacteria metabolizes the sugar producing acids. Tooth enamel is a hard crystalline outer layer.
The enamel crystal matrix within teeth can be damaged by acids which causes the cavity holes in teeth. Sugar can be found in candies and sweet foods like cookies, ice cream, cake, and even in natural foods like fruits and juice. Even milk has natural sugar! Soda not only has sugar, but also acids and is very damaging to teeth. With this in mind limiting processed sugar is very important.
To help with the fact that juice and nutritious foods have natural sugar, proper oral hygiene is important. In this way, after flossing and brushing, sugar is not left on the teeth for long periods of time. For example, one problem we see that can cause a massive amount of cavities is a toddler with a Sippy cup that sips juice or milk throughout the day or night, constantly bathing the teeth in sugar. This is called ‘baby bottle cavity syndrome.’ We often see cavities on every single tooth. You cannot avoid all sugar, as healthy foods and juice do have sugars, just cut out the processed sugars. Again even snacks that young children consume like crackers or cereal are high in carbohydrates which can break down into sugar. Snacks like these are fine in moderation, but should be limited in amount.
Certain cavities can only be detected through x-rays
Cavities within baby teeth can be one of two main types: smooth surface and between the teeth cavities. It is the presence of cavities between the teeth that shocks parents so much, since usually they are not visually detectable unless they are very large. This is why it is important for your child to attend the dentist’s office regularly, in order for x-ray images to detect any possible cavities.
An important point to remember is that if a cavity is left untreated, the type of bacteria that cause cavities will constantly wash out of the cavity hole onto the other teeth. These other baby and even adult teeth will be attacked by the bacteria that will try and create more cavity holes. So it is very important to fill all cavities to reduce the numbers of these specific cavity causing bacteria in the mouth.