Prevention can save you $$$

Last week, I was doing some continuing education.  One of the courses was about anticipatory guidance in pediatric care.  I wanted to talk about this subject because a lot of my friends and family have children now or are starting to family plan.  The big take home message here is: Early Childhood Caries is Preventable with the proper education background.

What is Early Childhood Caries (ECC)? The California Dental Association defines, "Early childhood caries (ECC), also known as baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD) is a preventable, infectious disease caused by certain types of bacteria (bugs) that live in your mouth."  Basically, ECC is a preventable, infectious disease that can result from sweet liquids in the mouth.  It can also be passed from a caretaker with untreated dental disease.  It is important to know that when your infant's teeth start to erupt, you are wiping their teeth with a wash cloth or something to prevent them from retaining that sugary substance in their mouth.

Now, I want to reach out to moms-to-be.  Educating pre-mothers is a great preventative tactic.  Did you know that your infant's teeth start to develop 4 months into pregnancy?  Something you can do is implement Xylitol into your diet to control the bacteria in your mouth.  It comes in the form of gum or mints, if you have no contraindications to chewing gum.

What is Xylitol? The California Dental Association describes xylitol as "a natural sugar alcohol that helps prevents cavities."  Xylitol's dental benefit help to reduce cavities and help with remineralization, as some studies have shown.   In addition, xylitol reduces plaque adherence, thus resulting in less bad bacteria.  If the bacteria can't adhere, this results in less bad bacterial congregating in the mouth that can demineralize that teeth.  When you eat something sweet (and the longer you are consuming this product), the more acidity you are exposing your mouth to and the longer it will take to remineralize your teeth.

How to handle teething?  It is recommended to use something natural and avoid products that contain benzocaine.  Using a product with benzocaine can lead to a disorder known as methemoglobinemia, where the amount of oxygen carried in the bloodstream can be greatly reduced. Use a chilled teeth ring (refrigerated, not frozen) or a wash cloth.  You can read about more why Benzocaine and Babies are not a good mix on the FDA website.  

I just want to touch on some Ways to preventing ECC.
1) Water is the best liquid you can consume, just make sure it is neutral in pH.  Usually tap water or filtered water will have a neutral pH.  Be carefully with some bottled water because some actually possess a pH of 5.35 or less.  You can ask me more about this if you like.
2) Know the eruption dates of when teeth erupt and exfoliate.  Here are some great references from the American Dental Association.
For Primary Teeth. 
For Permanent Teeth.
3) When should your child see a dental professional? Around six-12 months of age is what dental professions recommend.  During this visit, they are gathering assessment information and providing the caretaker vital information that can prevent ECC.