Bottle feeding, especially when it is prolonged at night leads to tooth decay even in very young children, says the Children's Hospital at Westmead.
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Primary teeth are important because they help children in chewing food properly, developing proper speech and guiding permanent teeth into the right place. Yet, as many as one-third of a group of 100 five-year olds suffer from tooth decay, with nine per cent experiencing severe decay. Professor Widmer has this practical advice to give: "The golden message is two minutes brushing twice a day with fluoride," he said. "I understand parents are busy, but that's the gold standard - brushing before school and before bed."
Australian researchers have discovered that bottle-linked decay occurred more in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, among people from lower socio-economic or non-English-speaking backgrounds, and in rural areas that suffered from a lack of services and among babies of single or very young mothers who did not know how to cope with crying babies.
Doctors also state that a sweet drink, rather than water at night would set a pattern that could later on lead to obesity, another big problem that Australia faces.
Source-Medindia