Your Health: Early childhood tooth decay epidemic

There's an epidemic across America right now. In today's "Your Health"... early childhood tooth decay. 13abc's Susan Ross Wells talked to a Toledo-area pediatric dentist who says it isn't simply a condition... it's a "disease," and he says parents and other caregivers are part of the problem.

The pictures Dr. Stephen Branam showed us in his Oregon dental office are disturbing. Young children with baby teeth rotted out to the gum line. For decades the Oregon dentist has been battling childhood tooth decay. He says its getting worse not better.

"Want a tooth brush? Aw, look at this buddy! All I'm gonna do is just brush your teeth, I'm just gonna check 'em OK?"

That's the sound of Dr. Branam examining a toddler in his office. He says two things cause tooth decay: the acidity of your saliva, which is inherited and the bacteria in your mouth. He says children get that bacteria from mom, dad and other caregivers.

"Whoever takes care of that child shares food with them," says Dr. Branam. "Like here.. I try it, you try it. You know, they take pacifiers and they lick them off and they give them back to the child, well they take their bacteria in their mouth, and give it to the child."

He says sugar is another evil. Think about all the sugar in juices and pop and what happens when your kids don't brush at bedtime.

"That child is laying in bed, whether he as a bottle or not, with a mouth full of bacteria and his mouth full of sugar and its just incubating," says the dentist. "It's just getting more and more and more."

He says it used to be called baby bottle tooth decay. "So they said get your child on a sippy cup right away, get 'em off the bottle get 'em on a sippy cup. The sippy cup is the same thing. Same shape, same everything. "

He says pacifiers are also a problem, keeping sugars in the front of the child's mouth near their teeth. Dr. Branam says a much better child's cup is simply a plastic cup with a lid and straw. The straw gets those sugars past the teeth. The standard pacifier also keeps sugars near the teeth.

Dr. Branam says his most critical message for parents is that your child needs to see a pediatric dentist when they're 1-year-old, not 3-years-old, as most dentists suggest. He says fluoride isn't recommended for children under 4 for fear they'll swallow it, but there are training toothpastes out there that are good, and other products made with something called Xylitol that he says has been used in Europe for decades. Dr. Branam has even launched a series of products to battle tooth decay in children including gums, toothpastes and snacks. He also has helpful information for parents on his website: http://www.drbranam.com/yourchild.htm