My girl friend Gale has a three year old that has carries and gum disease.  She was letting her mom baby sit her daughter when she was at work and she found out her mom would just let her daughter have a baby bottle to keep her quite.

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Copies of NIDCR’s free publications for health professionals, patients, and the public may be ordered online or through the Institute’s National Oral Health Information Clearinghouse (NOHIC).

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H1N1 – Parents what do  you think?

I have a son and have been thinking about his appointment that is coming up for the H1N1  flu shot.  He has had the regular flu shore without issues but I am a little worried about having them give him the shot for H1N1.  Parents that have done this were there any after effects?  Would you advise for it or against it ?

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Scientists supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, report in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine that pregnant women who received non-surgical treatment for their periodontal, or gum, disease did not also significantly lower their risk of delivering a premature or low-birthweight baby. These results come from the largest clinical trial to date to evaluate whether treating periodontal disease during pregnancy reduces a women’s risk of early delivery, an idea that has emerged as a possibility in recent years.

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Brush Up on Healthy Teeth

	Every parent knows that a healthy smile is a sign of a happy child, and oral health experts agree that creating those healthy smiles begins in infancy. CDC experts have developed a set of pediatric oral health tips, Brush Up on Healthy Teeth: Simple Steps for Kids’ Smiles (PDF–170K), Brush Up Poster (PDF–203K) and Quiz for Parents, also available as a PDF file (200K).

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What Can Parents and Caregivers Do?

• Pregnant women should get prenatal care and eat a healthy diet that includes folic acid to prevent neural tube defects and possibly cleft lip/palate. During pregnancy avoid tobacco and alcohol, and check with a doctor before taking any medications.
• Put only water in your baby’s bottle at bedtime or naptime. Milk, formula, juices, and other drinks contain sugar. Prolonged exposure to sugary drinks while baby sleeps – when saliva flow is reduced – increases the risk of tooth decay.
• Take your child for an oral health assessment between ages 1-2, and every six months thereafter.
• Protect your child’s teeth with fluoride. Use a fluoridated toothpaste, putting only a pea-sized amount on your child’s toothbrush. If your drinking water is not fluoridated, talk to a dentist or physician about the best way to protect your child’s teeth.
• Encourage your children to eat regular nutritious meals and to avoid frequent between-meal snacking.
• Talk to your child’s dentist about dental sealants, which protect teeth from decay.
• Make sure your child wears a helmet when bicycling and uses protective headgear and mouth guards in other sports activities.

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Children’s Oral Health

• The oral health of children has improved significantly over the past few decades.
• Today most American children enjoy excellent oral health, but a significant subset suffers a high level of oral disease. The most advanced disease is found primarily among children living in poverty, some racial/ethnic minority populations, disabled children, and children with HIV infection.
• We know enough about health promotion and disease prevention measures to improve the oral health and well-being of all children.
• Tooth decay remains one of the most common diseases of childhood – 5 times as common as asthma and 7 times as common as hay fever.
• More than half of children aged 5-9 have had at least one cavity or filling; 78 percent of 17-year-olds have experienced tooth decay.
• By age 17, more than 7 percent of children have lost at least one permanent tooth to decay.
• Each year, 8,000 babies are born with cleft lip and/or cleft palate, making these among the most common birth defects. Cleft lip and cleft palate interfere with normal appearance, eating, and speech.
• Injuries to children, intentional and non-intentional, often involve trauma to the head, neck, and mouth. The leading causes of oral and head injuries are sports, violence, falls, and motor vehicle crashes.
• Tobacco-related oral lesions are common in teenagers who use spit (smokeless) tobacco. The lesions occur in 35 percent of snuff users and 20 percent of chewing tobacco users.
• One in four American children are born into poverty (annual income of $17,000 or less for a family of four). Children and adolescents living in poverty suffer twice as much tooth decay as their more affluent peers, and their disease is more likely to go untreated.
• Children from families without medical insurance are 2.5 times less likely than insured children to receive dental care. Children from families without dental insurance are 3 times more likely than insured children to have unmet dental needs.
• For every child without medical insurance, there are 2.6 who lack dental insurance.
• Fewer than one in five Medicaid-covered children had a preventive dental visit during a recent year-long study.
• The daily reality for children with untreated oral disease is often persistent pain, inability to eat comfortably or chew well, embarrassment at discolored and damaged teeth, and distraction from play and learning.
• More than 51 million school hours are lost each year because of dental-related illness

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Check out the following Web sites for more tips on children’s oral health:

• Children’s Oral Health-Surgeon General Fact Sheet. You will learn quick oral health facts and find information on other ways to protect your child’s oral health.
• Infant Formula and Fluoridated Water. This page answers frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) about mixing infant formula with fluoridated water.
• Brush Up on Healthy Teeth. This is a health education campaign including a Brush Up Quiz for Parents, Tip Sheet, and Poster. En espanõl.

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How can you tell if your baby has dental caries

I have a 14 months old son and his teeth are in good shape.  I know this because we just came back from his dentist.  However when I was in the waiting room,  I heard the dentist talking to another mother and telling her that her baby has dental caries.  My understanding of carries is limited but I believe that it is really bad tooth decay.  The mother said that she did not see any signs of her baby teeth being bad.

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Can my baby have caries

I have a seven month old baby boy.  I started to notice a brown spot on his tooth that I thought may have been a bit of food.   I bush it to no avail.   I have an dental appointment in three days.  I just do not understand how my baby could be getting caries when I take care to brush the teeth he has.  I do not leave him with a baby bottle in fact I breast feed him most of the time.  So what can be the cause of the cavities?

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