{"id":982,"date":"2020-03-04T18:54:56","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T18:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/dental-care-blog\/how-to-avoid-the-dreaded-bottle-rot\/"},"modified":"2020-03-04T18:54:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T18:54:56","slug":"how-to-avoid-the-dreaded-bottle-rot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/dental-care-blog\/how-to-avoid-the-dreaded-bottle-rot\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid the Dreaded Bottle Rot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/03\/baby-bottle-rot_543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-983\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/03\/baby-bottle-rot_543.jpg 543w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/03\/baby-bottle-rot_543-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2020\/03\/baby-bottle-rot_543-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>AS PEDIATRIC DENTAL<\/b> care experts, our top priority is good dental health in our young patients. In addition to providing great care in our practice, this includes giving parents of small children all the tools and knowledge they need to keep those teeth healthy and strong. Today, we want to focus on protecting kids\u2019 teeth from something called \u201cbottle rot.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Bottle Rot: Pretty Much What It Sounds Like<\/h3>\n<p>Bottle rot, also called \u201cbaby bottle tooth decay\u201d is what happens when the sugar in milk or juice is allowed to linger in a baby, toddler, or small child\u2019s mouth for extended periods of time on a regular basis. <strong>A bottle or sippy cup at bedtime is a major culprit.<\/strong> Over time, those sugars feed the bacteria in the child\u2019s mouth, and they can develop serious tooth decay and cavities. It can even happen with breast feeding if the baby\u2019s gums and teeth aren\u2019t cleaned afterward!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aYKgIQU06vE?rel=0\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Tips for Preventing Bottle Rot<\/h3>\n<p>Avoiding this problem is simple in theory: <strong>only use bottles or sippy cups at mealtimes<\/strong>. If a child older than six months still gets thirsty in between meals, give them water. In practice, sometimes it\u2019s hard to withhold that tasty juice when it\u2019s what the little one wants, particularly when bedtime feels like a battle zone, but stay strong! Keeping their adorable smiles healthy will be worth it.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond limiting bottles and sippy cups to mealtimes, it\u2019s also important to clean out the milk or juice residue after a meal. <strong>Start brushing those baby teeth as soon as they appear<\/strong>, using a soft toothbrush and a tiny dab of toothpaste. It\u2019s also a good idea to limit their overall consumption of sugary drinks like juice and soda.<\/p>\n<h3>Treating Bottle Rot When It Happens<\/h3>\n<p>If your child already has some tooth decay or you\u2019re worried they might have it in the future, schedule an appointment with us! We can assess how extensive the decay is and determine the best steps to take to treat existing cavities and <strong>prevent new ones from developing<\/strong>. We can also give their teeth extra protection with sealants and fluoride varnish treatments.<\/p>\n<h3>Help Us Help Your Child Have Healthy Teeth and Gums<\/h3>\n<p>Parenting comes with all kinds of challenges, but we want to help make sure that keeping your children\u2019s teeth healthy is as easy to achieve as possible, including preventing and treating bottle rot. If it\u2019s been a while since you brought your kids in for a dental exam and professional cleaning, just give us a call!<\/p>\n<h4>Thank you for being part of our practice family!<\/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>AS PEDIATRIC DENTAL<\/b> care experts, our top priority is good dental health in our young patients. In addition to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-982","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\/982"}],"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=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=982"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}