EP 55 : What Is Bottle Mouth?

Bottle Mouth is a term used to describe the tooth decay that results from putting a baby to bed with a bottle that contains anything except water. When baby teeth have frequent and prolonged contact with too much sugar from milk or juice in a bottle.
Children at risk for bottle mouth take bottles of milk or juice to bed at naptime and bedtime or carry sugary beverages or milk around during the day. It is usually worse when a baby or young children fall asleep with a bottle or sippy cup in their mouth.
Bottle mouth cavities develop when babies are put to bed with a bottle, when a bottle is used as a pacifier, or if a baby or toddler uses a bottle or sippy cup frequently throughout the day and night. The bacteria already in the babies mouth feed on the sugar, multiply and produce acid as an acid as a waste product. This acid attacks and weakens the outer tooth layer called enamel, once weakened the tooth decay process starts.
Why should you be concerned with Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?

This is a common question I am asked. They’re just baby teeth, they are going to lose them anyway, so why do I need to worry about them? It is true, your child will lose their baby teeth, but infant cavities can be a serious problem. Your child needs their teeth to chew, swallow, speak, and smile. Baby teeth also hold the space for permanent teeth. If your child loses a baby tooth too early, the neighboring teeth are more likely to tilt or drift into the empty space and create limited space for the permanent tooth to erupt. If left untreated, the permanent tooth can be blocked from coming in property causing crowding and the need for braces, poor eating habits or speech problems.

The first signs of Baby Bottle Tooth Decay are white spots on the front teeth. If the white spots with plaque and sugar on the teeth, will quickly progress into tooth decay. Teeth that have decay may appear brown or black. Bottle mouth decay mostly affects the upper front teeth, but other teeth can develop cavities as well.
Milk that lingers on your teeth can cause damage without brushing your teeth after drinking milk (especially at night before bed), the sugar in milk stays stuck on teeth. Not disrupting the plaque is what leads to cavities and decay. It's also good to rinse your mouth with water after having milk during the day to neutralize the pH in the mouth.
Babies who fall asleep while drinking from a bottle can breath liquid into their lungs and choke, it can also cause aspiration pneumonia.
This is why you do not want to put a baby to be with a bottle to soothe them.
You can feed them before bed, just don’t give them a bottle and leave them for the night, it becomes a hard habit to break later.

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