{"id":1043,"date":"2020-10-07T22:27:24","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T22:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/dental-care-blog\/whats-causing-childhood-caries\/"},"modified":"2020-10-07T22:27:24","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T22:27:24","slug":"whats-causing-childhood-caries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/dental-care-blog\/whats-causing-childhood-caries\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Causing Childhood Caries?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/10\/child-caries_543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1044\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/10\/child-caries_543.jpg 543w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/10\/child-caries_543-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/10\/child-caries_543-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>40% OF KIDS WILL<\/b> develop at least one cavity by the time they reach sixth grade, which means that childhood caries is the most common disease among children. Fortunately, it\u2019s also a highly preventable disease. When parents make their kids\u2019 dental health a priority, they can make a huge difference. Step one is knowing the culprits behind tooth decay.<\/p>\n<h3>Sugary Treats Are Oral Bacteria\u2019s Favorite<\/h3>\n<p>Kids love sugar, but so does the harmful bacteria that causes cavities, which feasts on the residue that remains in the mouth after eating a sugary treat. So many of the <strong>popular snack foods kids like, not to mention candy, are loaded with added sugar<\/strong>. Every time we eat something sugary or acidic, it takes thirty minutes for our saliva to wash everything away. That means too many snacks between meals stops a child\u2019s saliva from effectively protecting their teeth!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BE_h4bTdcdQ?rel=0\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>How can parents fight back? Swap out some of those sugary snack foods with fruits and veggies and <strong>try to limit sugar consumption to mealtimes<\/strong>. (Limiting sugar intake isn\u2019t just healthier for the teeth, but for the whole body!)<\/p>\n<h3>Be Careful With Bottles and Sippy Cups<\/h3>\n<p>A less obvious source of sugar than treats and candy is the drinks kids love. You might think fruit juice is a healthy alternative to soda, but it has just as much sugar and is nearly as acidic. <strong>Not even milk is sugar-free!<\/strong> Sugary drinks are especially dangerous to teeth when kids have sippy cups or bottles to sip on them constantly. When they do this, their teeth are continuously bathed in sugar.<\/p>\n<p>The risk of decay in this situation is so high that it\u2019s earned its own nicknames: \u201cbottle rot\u201d or \u201cbaby bottle tooth decay.\u201d So just like with sugary treats, <strong>we recommend cutting back on sugary drinks<\/strong> and especially limiting them to mealtimes. For between meals and close to bedtime, water is a much better option to put in the sippy cup.<\/p>\n<h3>What\u2019s a Parent to Do?<\/h3>\n<p>Aside from limiting sugar intake to mealtimes and generally cutting back on it, there are plenty of other ways to help your child have a cavity-free smile. One is to <strong>be a good example of proper dental hygiene habits<\/strong> and to teach your child to have those habits too. Try using encouragement and positive reinforcement, explain why brushing and flossing matter, make it fun, and let your child pick out a toothbrush they like.<\/p>\n<p>Bonus tip: avoid other methods of spreading bacteria like kissing on the mouth, sharing spoons, or using your mouth to clean a dropped pacifier. <strong>These things can all transfer your oral bacteria to your child.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>The Biggest Fan of Your Child\u2019s Smile: the Pediatric Dentist!<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes, even when we do everything right, our kids might still be prone to dental health troubles because of things like genetics or unexpected injuries, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s critical to include the pediatric dentist in the team fighting for a cavity-free smile. We have special training to work with kids and identify any problems early on.<\/p>\n<h4>Let\u2019s keep that little smile healthy and bright!<\/h4>\n<h6>Top image used under <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/share-your-work\/public-domain\/cc0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CC0 Public Domain license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #d9d9d9;\">The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><b>40% OF KIDS WILL<\/b> develop at least one cavity by the time they reach sixth&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-1043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-pediatric","category-176","category-179","category-181","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}