Nutrition and dental decay in infants.

This review has cited evidence which indicates that a significant amount of human dental decay represents a specific infection due to S. mutans. The manner in which S. mutans colonizes the teeth, particularly the fissure surfaces, and the role that dietary sucrose plays in this process was discussed. The transmission of this infection from adults, usually the mother, to infants occurs shortly after the teeth erupt. This time period, which coincides with weaning, would be ideal for the introduction of preventive strategies that would involve both reduction in the usage of sucrose and the judicious usage of fluorides. A model was described which indicated that if the caries susceptible surfaces on the teeth are occupied by a noncariogenic bacterial flora, then these tooth surfaces may be able to resist a S. mutans infection in later life. If so, then the weaning period is extremely important for future dental health, and great efforts should be made to provide food choices that are not innately cariogenic. In this regard, the decisions and practices of pediatricians and the manufacturers of infant food products can be extremely important determinants of the subsequent dental health of an individual.