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We know how frustrating it can be to discover your child has one or more cavities when you come to visit Kanawha City Pediatric Dentistry. There are several ways to prevent baby teeth from forming cavities due to decay. Not to worry: If your child does develop a cavity on a baby tooth, Drs. Don and Mindy can help take care of the problem.

Let’s look at how cavities on your little one’s teeth can be prevented from developing in the first place. Most often, children suffer decay from eating sugary foods. You may think, “My child doesn’t eat lots of candy!” In truth, fruits and juices have plenty of natural sugars that can break down teeth if they aren’t brushed thoroughly.

A well-balanced diet that includes calcium and phosphorous is necessary to keep your child’s oral health in a good state. If your son or daughter drinks juice, avoid giving it before bedtime and dilute the juice with water. Good options for snacks include vegetables, low-sugar yogurt or dairy products, and plenty of milk for healthy teeth.

Another excellent preventive strategy consists of scheduling regular appointments with Drs. Don and Mindy for your child. Between your youngster’s annual cleanings, make sure he or she brushes and flosses every day. It’s worthwhile for your little one to brush thoroughly for at least two minutes to remove any decay or plaque that has accumulated in the mouth, especially before bedtime.

Brushing Techniques

• Move the brush both back and forth, and in circular gentle strokes.
• Brush the outer surfaces, inside surfaces, and chewing surfaces of all teeth.
• Place the toothbrush at a 45-degree angle to the gums.
• Brush the tongue to remove excess bacteria and keep breath fresh.

It’s not always possible to prevent cavities from appearing in your son or daughter’s mouth. If your child does develop a cavity, our staff will notify you during the regular scheduled cleaning.

The cavity will need to be eliminated, even when it appears on a baby tooth. Our staff will remove the decayed part of the tooth and fill in the hole so your child doesn’t have to experience any pain.

You may wonder why a baby tooth has to be fixed if it is eventually going to fall out. Baby teeth hold spaces where your child’s permanent teeth have to grow in. If the former aren’t taken care of, multiple teeth may shift and the permanent ones won’t be able to grow in properly.

If you still have questions or concerns about your child’s baby teeth, or notice signs of a cavity, please don’t hesitate to contact our Charleston office and schedule an appointment. Remember, preventive steps can be taken to avoid bothersome cavities from forming in your child’s mouth.

One of the best ways to take care of your teeth is to brush them twice each day for two minutes each time. And brushing works even better when you take care of your toothbrush! Let’s look at some easy toothbrush rules to keep yourself, your teeth, and your brush healthy.

• Don’t Share

You can share toys, or share games, or share stories—but don’t share your toothbrush! Germs can hide on your brush. If you have a cold, you don’t want to give it to others. And if your family member or friend has a cold, you don’t want to catch it! This also means that toothbrushes shouldn’t touch each other while they’re drying. Separate brushes are healthy brushes.

• Keep Your Brush Clean

After you finished brushing your teeth, you might notice some toothpaste suds sticking to your brush—or even bits of the food you’ve just brushed off your teeth. Keep your brush clean by rinsing off all the toothpaste and food crumbs before you put it away. And it’s always a good idea to wash your hands before you brush to get rid of any germs which you don’t want to share with your brush—or your mouth.

• Stand (It) Up Straight

Let your toothbrush dry standing up, with the bristle end on top. That way your brush can air-dry quickly.  Germs like to grow in dark, damp spaces, so don’t put your toothbrush in a case while it’s wet. If you take your brush to school or on a trip, make sure your brush is dry before you pack it away.

• Don’t Keep Your Brush Too Long

After about three months, no matter how well you take care of your toothbrush, you’ll be needing a replacement. Bristles get worn out after weeks and weeks of brushing twice a day, and just can’t clean as well as they did when they were new.

• Don’t Forget Regular Checkups

Regular cleanings at our Charleston pediatric dental office and exams with Drs. Don and Mindy will remove any plaque you missed and keep your smile clean and bright.

Keep your toothbrush to yourself, keep it clean, keep it dry, and don’t keep it too long—and you’ll help keep yourself, your teeth and your toothbrush in good health!

Whether you’re defending the goal, shooting hoops, or practicing tricks on your skateboard, sports and exercise are a great way to keep fit and healthy. Let’s make sure you keep your smile fit and healthy, too, with a few easy ideas you can use whenever you work out.

• Eat Tooth-Friendly Snacks

Most activities use lots of energy. One simple way to keep up your energy when you’re on the go is with snacks.

And one simple way to protect your teeth from cavities when you’re working out? Cut down on snacks like dried fruits, granola bars, and chips that can have a lot of sugar and/or stick to your teeth. Sugary and sticky foods feed the bacteria in plaque, and plaque causes cavities.

There are lots of tooth-friendly choices when it comes to recharging your energy levels. Fresh fruit slices and vegetable sticks are an easy-to-carry, vitamin- and mineral-packed snack. Bring some peanut butter for dipping or add some plain nuts for protein and crunch. Whole grain crackers and hard cheeses are another tasty choice. And drink some water after snacking to rinse away food particles.

• Drink Water When You Exercise

And, speaking of water, our bodies can’t work without it! Healthy hydration means drinking the right amount of water every day—not too little, not too much—to help every cell in your body keep going strong.

But when you’re working out, breathing harder, and sweating, your body is losing water. That’s why athletes always keep a water bottle handy.

Of course, you can hydrate with other liquids besides water, and flavored sports drinks and energy drinks are popular with a lot of people—but not with dentists! If you look at their labels, you’ll often discover lots of sugar in these drinks. And they can also be very acidic, which can make your tooth enamel weaker.  

Bring your own water, and you’ll be hydrating, protecting your teeth, and helping to keep the planet healthy with your reusable bottle.

• Wear Your Mouthguard

You don’t play contact sports without protective gear—and part of that gear should be a mouthguard. Sports like hockey and football are obvious contact sports, but, if you think about it, baseball, soccer, biking, skateboarding, and many other activities can bring you into contact with another person, a piece of equipment, or the hard ground!

One way to make sure that any contact is easier on your teeth and mouth is to wear a mouthguard. You can get these ready-made, or in a kit which lets you mold the mouthguard around your teeth, or you can have one made at our Charleston office, which will fit your teeth perfectly and provide the best protection (especially if you wear braces).

Keep your smile strong and healthy while you keep fit with these simple additions to your work out routine. And for even more good ideas for taking care of your smile, ask an expert—Drs. Don and Mindy!

What a milestone! The transition from bottle to sippy cup is one of baby’s first steps toward toddler independence. And like all first journeys, some helpful guideposts come in handy. That’s why Drs. Don and Mindy and our team have several recommendations to help you navigate this transition, making sure your baby’s dental health is protected along the way.

Choosing a Sippy Cup

Sippy cups are often a parent’s first choice for this big step in baby’s development. While sippy cups offer a variety of child-safe materials, lively colors, and comfortable handle options, the feature of interest from a dental perspective is lid design.

Sippy cups curb spills because their lids don’t allow liquids to flow out freely, ensuring that drinks make it into baby’s mouth instead of onto furniture or floor. Cup lids might incorporate:

• Built-in straws
• A drinking edge around the rim of the cup which seals when your child isn’t drinking
• Soft spouts
• Hard spouts
• Spouts with valves to prevent liquids from leaking out. (Spouts with valves work like a nipple, which means baby is sucking instead of sipping.)

Which design is best? For short periods, any of these designs can work for you. Over long periods, spouted cups could have the same effects as prolonged thumb-sucking and pacifier use, potentially affecting a child’s tongue positioning, tooth alignment, bite, and speech development. Your dentist will be able to suggest which cups are best for your child’s dental health both short and long term.

What to Put in a Sippy Cup

Once your baby has begun drinking from a cup, it should only hold tooth-friendly drinks.

• Pediatricians generally recommend breast milk and/or formula until your child is 12 months old. You can switch to regular milk (or a healthy milk alternative) once your child is a year old with your doctor’s okay.
• Water can be introduced when your pediatrician thinks your child is ready, usually around the age of six months.
• Because even natural fruit juices have lots of sugar, dentists and pediatricians suggest giving your baby small amounts only—or feed your child fruit instead!
• Skip the sugared drinks, sports drinks, caffeinated drinks, and sodas. They aren’t healthy for little bodies or little teeth.

Help Prevent Tooth Decay

Just like adults, babies can suffer tooth decay, too—and for the same reasons. The bacteria in plaque use the sugars found in our diets to create acids, and acids erode tooth enamel.

When a toddler totes a sippy cup around all day, even filled with healthy drinks, those baby teeth are constantly exposed to the natural sugars found in breast milk, formula, and, for older children, milk. Drinks with more or added sugars, such as juices or sweetened drinks, cause more damage to tooth enamel. Use a sippy cup wisely:

• Offer the cup with meals and snacks, when increased saliva production can help wash away sugars and neutralize the acids which cause cavities.
• Offer water between meals.
• Don’t let your baby take a sippy cup to bed. Some spill-proof cups are designed to be sucked like bottles, and, like bottles, sugary liquids can pool in babies’ mouths as they sleep.
• Get into a tooth-cleaning routine as soon as your child’s teeth start to arrive.

And, while we’re talking about healthy teeth, please don’t let your child toddle around with a sippy cup. A fall while drinking can injure a baby’s mouth and teeth.

Partner with Your Child’s Dentist

The journey from baby to toddler can seem overwhelming sometimes for both you and your child, but you have expert help available! It's a good idea to make a first dental appointment at our Charleston office sometime between the appearance of the first baby tooth and your child’s first birthday. This initial visit is an opportunity for Drs. Don and Mindy to:

• Check your child’s overall dental health and development.
• Look for signs of early decay.
• Talk about proactive dental care, including how and when to clean your child’s teeth.
• Answer questions about how you can support your child’s dental health, including the advantages and disadvantages of sippy cups.

Used properly, sippy cups can be a helpful transition on your child’s journey from bottle to cup, and from baby-who-relies-on-you-for-everything to take-charge-toddler. Drs. Don and Mindy and our team are an ideal guide as you and your child chart this path together.