Babies and Children Dental Health

Appledore Dental Clinic, Milton Keynes

Why Do Teeth Get Crowded And What Can We Do About It Without Taking Teeth Out?

Many people think that the reason the teeth get crowded is due to genetics.

‘Oh, I inherited big teeth from my dad and a small jaw from my mum’.

In a very few number of people this can be true, but it is extremely rare. Genetically it is more normal to inherit missing teeth.

The real reason teeth get crowded is a lack of growth. This is caused by the actions of the muscles of the mouth in mouth breathing, tongue thrusting, reverse swallowing and thumb sucking, which are known as incorrect myofunctional habits.

These habits start early and are often associated with allergies or asthma:

A child will have a blocked nose
Start mouth breathing
And then not relearn to breathe through their nose
This then changes the development of the airway and the face.
Click here to see how this happens

If a child is a mouth breather:

Their tongue is unable to rest in the correct position
And their mouth will remain open
This causes the muscles of their jaws and face to restrict correct forward growth
Forcing it backwards and downwards
Resulting in narrow jaws and a long underdeveloped face

If these muscles are functioning correctly, with the tongue is in the proper position and the mouth predominantly closed, normal growth will occur giving enough room for the front and back teeth to fit into their correct position.

How do I know if my child has a problem?

Any of these are signs that not all is well in your child’s mouth

Are you constantly telling your child to close their mouth?
Do they eat noisily with their mouth open?
Do they snore or grind their teeth?
Have you noticed that their adult teeth are starting to come in crooked?

How can we fix it?

If a child is seen at Appledore whilst they are still growing we can use an appliance called a Myobrace along with a series of exercises to help to retrain their tongue, lip and cheek muscles.

Myobrace are a series of appliances which are generally worn for 1-2 hours a day followed by night wear. The exercises should take up around 10 minutes a day

By correcting their muscles, we can normalise growth.

Their teeth will generally then erupt in the right place, eliminating the need for extractions. Minor rotations of the teeth can then be treated simply.

How do we get started?

Appledore offer a FREE initial consultation by video link. Dr Teresa will chat with you and your child and will be able to offer advice on the options for treatment.

If you would like a FREE video consultation, just fill in the ‘contact us’ form on our web and we will be in touch.

Dr Teresa our Clinical Director and Founder (who originally trained at the esteemed Guys Dental Hospital, London) has been offering teeth straightening treatments for over 35 years

Did you know Appledore recently won an award?

Best Dentist Milton Keynes 2020

Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

22nd October 2020/in Babies and Children /by Yvonne Poole

Baby bottle tooth decay is a serious dental condition which can destroy the teeth of your infant/young child.

Here at Appledore in Milton Keynes, we have seen that this can cause painful toothaches for your child which can hinder their eating and can affect their well being. Severely decayed teeth can become infected and then need to be extracted. If your child’s teeth are infected or lost too early due to baby bottle tooth decay, they may have some of these problems:

Poor eating habits
Crooked teeth
Speech problems
Damaged adult teeth
Yellow or brown adult teeth

Parents sometimes don’t realise that their baby’s teeth are susceptible to decay as soon as they appear in their mouths. By the time decay is noticed, it may be too late to save your child’s teeth.

Your child’s upper front teeth are the most susceptible to damage, however their other teeth can also be affected. The frequent and long-term exposure of a child’s teeth to liquids containing sugars ie milk, formula, fruit juice, fizzy sweetened drinks, and other sweetened drinks is the cause of this condition.
The sugars in these liquids pool around your infant’s teeth and gums, feeding the bacteria that cause plaque. Each and every time your child consumes a sugary liquid, acid attacks their teeth. After numerous attacks, tooth decay can occur, resulting in baby bottle tooth decay.
Parents and carers should be especially concerned with giving their infant a sugary drink at nap or night time. During sleep, the flow of saliva decreases, allowing the sugary liquids to pool around your child’s teeth for an extended period of time.

Protect Your Child’s Teeth & Prevent Tooth Decay

Breast feed your baby (if you are able to)
After each feed wipe your child’s teeth and gums with a damp wash cloth or small soft toothbrush to remove plaque
Begin brushing your child’s teeth as soon as their first tooth erupts.
Never allow your child to fall asleep with a bottle containing a sweetened liquid – If your child refuses to fall asleep without a bottle, simply fill it with water and nothing else
If your local water supply does not contain enough decay-fighting fluoride, check with your dentist to see if your child should receive fluoride supplements
Start dental visits when your child is aged between six and twelve months to get them into the habit of having their mouths checked.

To watch the Healthy Smile Song click here

What is Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?

30th January 2020/in Babies and Children /by Yvonne Poole

Baby bottle tooth decay is pretty much what it sounds like – tooth decay in very small children. It’s also known as early childhood caries, nursing caries and nursing bottle syndrome, and happens when a baby’s teeth are in regular contact with sugars. These sugars can come from any number of things, from fruit juices and milk, formula, diluted fruit juice, sugar water or any other sweet drink. It can set in with very young children – even those who are being breastfed. Often a baby will fall asleep with un-swallowed milk in its mouth after feeding, and this provides a breeding ground for the bacteria that feed on sugars in the milk and cause tooth decay. If baby bottle tooth decay is left untreated, it can cause pain and difficulty chewing and swallowing in the short term.

What are The Effects of Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?

In the long term, it can cause problems for adult teeth growing in. A child’s baby teeth are essentially acting as ‘space savers’ for the adult teeth. But if those baby teeth are damaged or destroyed, then they can’t guide the adult teeth into the right position. Best case scenario this means crooked adult teeth that will cost money to straighten, and at worst it can cause an abscessed tooth, and that infection can spread elsewhere in the body.

How can I Avoid Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?

Luckily there are a few ways to avoid baby bottle tooth decay. To start with, during the day try to avoid giving your baby milk or sugary drinks to calm it – instead give plain water of a dummy. If you are giving a dummy, make sure you don’t dip it in sugar, honey or any other kind of sugary liquid to make them take it. If your baby is nursing at night, make sure to remove your breast from the baby’s mouth when it falls asleep, and use a wet cloth or gauze to wipe the baby’s teeth and gums after each feeding to reduce the risk of plaque build-up.

When a child no longer requires a night feed, only allow water in a bottle as a pacifier at night.

There is very little guidance on how to manage baby teeth and on-demand night breastfeeding past the age of 12 months in relation to dental decay. Recent systematic reviews highlight shortcomings in existing studies as confounding factors cannot be controlled (confounding factors, in this case, are toothbrushing, fluoride use, and intake of sugary drinks and foods, which will all impact the chances of getting decay) and therefore conclusions cannot be drawn.

This makes the advice to continue on-demand breastfeeding to 2 years and beyond from The World Health Organisation, just a tad confusing for both parents and professionals. This means, when you ask your dentist, nurse or doctor for advice we are basically just guessing.

For more information and links please go to

https://myhabox.co.uk/blogs/hablog/does-on-demand-breastfeeding-at-night-cause-dental-decay?fbclid=IwAR1rfuHxthxttrIX1ozKRRRGBZ–ezS6JsMsVt1pkJDhynATNuoe2iEIPdo