Protecting Your Child’s Teeth Through Adulthood

You may know about baby bottle tooth decay and thought, “does it matter that baby chompers rot because they fall out anyway?” The answer is very much yes. Read this post to see why.

Although baby bottle tooth decay affects the baby chompers, effects from the disease can bear into adulthood. Because baby teeth are placeholders for adult teeth, premature loss of baby chompers can affect the spacing of adult chompers, potentially developing crooked pearly whites that will need orthodontic services. Other side effects of baby bottle tooth decay include the need for speech therapy (when speech-affecting pearly whites are lost) and bad oral hygiene habits that affect everything from self-confidence to diet problems.

Though baby bottle tooth decay is the most rampant illness for children under 6 years old in the United States, not all children are equally susceptible. Studies have found that risk factors are greater for Mexican-American children and those who have had an appointment with a dentist within 12 months. Children living in conditions below the poverty line are also extra susceptible to forming baby bottle tooth decay.

The West Valley Pediatric Dentistry team in Taylorsville, Utah, is composed of baby bottle tooth decay experts. When you work with Dr. Samuel Bailey and their staff, you can have confidence that you’re in the right hands. Please call 801-417-8080 now so the team can pencil in your next checkup.