The prevalence of baby bottle tooth decay
Caries at babies caused by baby bottles is a very common occurence and parentes need to be educated on the topic and do everything that can be done to prevent it. Baby bottle tooth decay can sometimes cause sometimes serious problems afterwards.
Basics:
Early childhood caries, also known as baby bottle caries, baby bottle tooth decay, and bottle rot, is a syndrome characterized by severe decay in the teeth of infants or young children. Early childhood caries (ECC) is a very common bacterial infection. Its prevalence is epidemic; in the US its rate is highest in minority and rural populations, at times infecting over 70% of the children. A large body of scientific evidence indicates that ECC is an infectious and transmissible disease, with Streptococcus mutans the primary microbiological agent in the disease. The disease process begins with the transmission of the bacteria to the child, usually from the primary caretaker, the mother. Mothers with untreated dental disease present a very high risk to their children. [1]
Baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD) is a disease characterized by severe dental caries in the primary dentition that may have significant short-term and long-term implications for the health of children. Its prevalence and various etiologic factors have not been addressed fully in the dental literature. In 1985, 514 Native American Head Start children in Alaska and Oklahoma were screened to establish the prevalence of BBJD in those populations. The prevalence of BBTD ranged between 17 and 85 percent, with a mean of 53 percent. BBTD is clearly a significant health problem for this population group. Concerted intervention efforts to lower the prevalence of this preventable condition should be instituted and their effectiveness evaluated for potential utility among other affected groups.[2]
Baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD) is a term applied to a specific form of rampant decay associated with inappropriate bottle or breast feeding of infants and young children. Although the prevalence of BBTD has been studied in individual ethnic groups, comparison studies are rare. Head Start children have frequently served as study subjects for assessing the prevalence of BBTD. The purpose of this study was to compare BBTD and caries prevalence among Head Start children who are members of four ethnic groups in five southwestern States. Age, residence, and fluoridation status were also compared for the total sample and ethnic categories. The sampling process was a stratified random site selection; it was used to obtain data on 1,230 children. This number constituted 3 percent of the children enrolled in Head Start in Public Health Service Region VI (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) where the study was conducted. The criterion for determining the presence of BBTD was based on the number of carious deciduous maxillary incisors observed. The severity of the condition was reported as two of four and three of four of the target teeth affected. Thus, two levels of severity are reported. BBTD was prevalent in approximately 24 percent and 15 percent of the total sample, depending on the severity criterion used. Native American children had a significantly higher (P less than 0.05) prevalence than Hispanic, white, and black subjects. Rural children had significantly higher (P less than 0.05) prevalence of BBTD than nonrural children for all ethnic groups except whites. [3]
Baby bottle tooth decay is a unique pattern of dental caries (tooth decay) affecting the dentition of young children. It is associated with the practice of putting the child to sleep with a nursing bottle filled with liquid that contains sugar. Practitioners who treat Native American children have noted that this population suffers from a high prevalence of the condition. In order to establish specific program priorities and treatment needs for this segment of the Native American population, additional information is required on both prevalence and severity of baby bottle tooth decay. In this survey, an overall prevalence of 70 percent was observed when Navajo and Cherokee Head Start students ages 4-5 years were examined. Of the children affected by baby bottle tooth decay, 87 percent displayed the most severe manifestation of the disease. The prevalence of this disease in these Native American children appears to be substantially higher than in other populations. Further study is needed to identify the factors contributing to this difference in prevalence and to identify effective measures for reducing the occurrence of baby bottle tooth decay among Native Americans. [4]
Baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD) is a preventable dental disease that affects more than 50% of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children. A community-oriented program to prevent BBTD was implemented in 12 AI/AN communities in 1986. In 1989, the overall prevalence of BBTD for the 12 sites combined decreased from 57% to 43% which represented a 25% reduction. Funding for the formal program was discontinued in 1990. In 1994, the Indian Health Service Dental and Head Start funded an assessment of the current prevalence of BBTD and the level of program implementation at the 12 original sites. This paper describes the findings. At the five sites where both one-to- one counseling and community-based educational activities had continued, BBTD prevalence was reduced by 38% over the eight-year period. [5]
Caries risk factors in rural Japan were identified for 637 children age eighteen months. Oral examinations, behavioral risk questionnaires and caries activity tests (Cariostat) were utilized. Results indicated an overall 13.7 percent prevalence of decay and strong correlations between Cariostat and caries status. Of the behavioral risk factors, weaning from breast feeding was most closely related with caries status. All factors resulted in correct classifications of Cariostat score and caries status. These results suggest that a screening of high risk infants can be accomplished by using the questionnaire and Cariostat test. [6]
Conclusion:
Putting your baby to sleep with a nursing bottle filled with liquid that contains sugar can cause Baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD). It is a preventable disease and therefore parents and nurses need to take care of their children adn mothers have to make sure that their teeth are healthy while pregnant because that too can affect babies’ teeth health.
References:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_childhood_caries
[2] ”The Prevalence of Baby Bottle Tooth Decay Among Two Native American Populations” by: Mim Kelly RDH, MEd1, Bonnie Bruerd RDH, MPH
[3] ”Ethnicity, location, age, and fluoridation factors in baby bottle tooth decay and caries prevalence of Head Start children.” by: G P Barnes, W A Parker, T C Lyon, Jr, M A Drum, and G C Coleman
[4] ”Baby bottle tooth decay in Native American children in Head Start centers.” by: E Broderick, J Mabry, D Robertson, and J Thompson
[5] ”Preventing baby bottle tooth decay: eight-year results.” by: B Bruerd and C Jones
[6] ”A study of baby bottle tooth decay and risk factors for 18-month old infants in rural Japan.” by: Tsubouchi J, Higashi T, Shimono T, Domoto PK, Weinstein P.
