4 Tips for Preventing Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

The main goal of every parent is to keep their children healthy. That being said, it’s also important for parents that their young babies remain properly fed. Therefore, it’s common for parents to reach for a warm bottle in order to calm crying babies. However, you’ll want to eventually have your child favoring other containers instead of bottles. If not, your child could soon be dealing with a wide range of dental problems. Considering that, here are four tips on how to prevent baby bottle tooth decay.

How Baby Bottle Tooth Decay Occurs

It’s understandable to wonder how tooth decay occurs from using bottles. With that in mind, you’ll want to think of how your child uses a bottle. In most cases, the nipple of the bottle will rest against your child’s front teeth. As this continues to happen, sugar from the contents of the bottle sticks to a tooth’s surface. In turn, this causes rapid tooth decay.

Preventing Tooth Decay From Baby Bottles

Consider the headaches and stress associated with dental visits, it’s understandable to want to prevent this type of decay. Many parents have had to deal with children that are having a tough time giving up their bottles. With that in mind, here are a few helpful tips for preventing tooth decay caused by baby bottles.

1. Practice Proper Tooth Brushing Habits Early
   
   Many parents wonder when it’s appropriate to start brushing their children’s teeth. Fortunately, experts recommend that it’s fine to brush your child’s teeth after they grow into the mouth. It’s important to remember to brush these teeth gently and not to use large amounts of toothpaste. Experts recommend using an amount of toothpaste approximately the size of a grain of rice for each tooth. In addition, you don’t need a giant toothbrush to clean your baby’s teeth. A small child’s toothbrush will work perfectly fine.
2. Replace Sugary Drinks with Milk or Water
   
   Another great tip for how to prevent baby bottle tooth decay comes down to what’s included in this container. A child’s brain is extremely flexible between birth through reaching the age of six. Therefore, this time is great for instilling healthy drinking habits in your child. Drinks including juices or sodas are known to contain large amounts of sugar. Therefore, placing these beverages in a baby’s bottle is likely to increase the rate at which teeth decay. Considering that, make sure that your child is receiving plenty of water and milk. Water is great for keeping your child hydrated while milk helps to provide a foundation for strong and healthy bones.
3. Make the Switch to Sip Cups
   
   You’ll want to begin offering sip cups to your child as they get older. Of course, many children might have a hard time learning how to use this new container. Considering that, it’s important to take your time while letting your child use these types of cups. Eventually, most children begin to prefer these cups over bottles.
4. Encourage Healthy Eating Habits
   
   Monitoring your child’s diet goes a long way to prevent health problems. Statistics show that about 65% of students consider themselves visual learners. With that in mind, many parents utilize health education products in order to help teach their children how to make healthy choices. Therefore, another important tip is to have meal portion plates on hand. Parents who buy portion plates never have to worry about their children overeating.

To summarize, it’s important that parents learn how to prevent baby bottle tooth decay. While it’s important that your children are able to receive sustenance from a bottle, this habit should not continue forever. As they continually use bottles, children often develop dental problems. If you don’t want to deal with unhappy children and mounting dental bills, it’s important to eventually replace bottles with other types of containers. In addition, make sure that your limiting how many sugary drinks your child consumes each day. Following these tips will help ensure you know how to prevent baby bottle tooth decay.