What is dental caries ?
Dental caries is an infectious disease process that causes tooth decay or “cavities.” If untreated, caries can lead to severe pain, local infection, tooth loss, and even serious systemic infections. Babies typically are inoculated or “catch” dental caries from their parents. For this reason, it is important that parents attend to their own dental needs, striving to have excellent dental hygiene and, therefore, helping to prevent problems with their children’s teeth. Here is what is happening in your child’s mouth: Teeth, which are primarily made of minerals, are in a constant state of back-and-forth de-mineralization and re-mineralization. When your child eats and drinks, certain types of bacteria create acid from the foods and fluids left on the teeth. The acid de-mineralizes or weakens the tooth enamel. In healthy mouths, the time between meals allows, minerals from the saliva to become incorporated into the teeth, remineralizing the enamel and reversing the damage from the acid. In
