Nursing bottle cavities, or nursing bottle syndrome, is caused by a particular set of circumstances.

Before discussing nursing bottle cavities, it is helpful first to understand how cavities are formed. Cavities are caused by acid attack on a susceptible tooth. The acids are formed due to the interaction of plaque (bacteria) and fermentable carbohydrates (sugar, for example). The decay process can be represented in the following way:



Prevention of decay therefore includes:

• making a susceptible tooth less susceptible (example: use of fluorides and pit and fissure sealants),
  
• decreasing the bacterial count on the teeth (example: brushing and flossing), and
  
• limiting the amount and frequency of fermentable carbohydrates (example: reducing sugary between meal snacks).

Nursing bottle cavities occur when a child is allowed to fall asleep with a bottle in their mouth or feed for along periods of time. If the bottle contains a fermentable carbohydrate, (like infant formula, milk, juice, squash, sugar water or pop) and the liquid is allowed to pool around the teeth, the bacteria that are present will form acid, which eventually leads to decay.

Nursing bottle cavities usually form on upper front teeth and back molars first. The lower front teeth are usually protected by the tongue, and decay in this area is seen more often in very advanced cases.

To prevent nursing bottle cavities:

• do not leave a bottle in your child's mouth while he or she is sleeping;
  
• begin brushing your child's teeth as soon as they come into the mouth, or clean them by using a wet washcloth; and,
  
• begin regular dental examinations by the first birthday or earlier if a problem is noted.

An investigation of 600 skulls preserved from ancient cultures in US museums found that nearly all had perfect occlusions (correct alignment of teeth, allowing a proper bite). As the skulls were from people living before the advent of artificial feeding, they would all have been breastfed. The author notes that good occlusion and well formed dental arches were much less common among his own dental patients and among a sample of modern skulls studied

A retrospective study from Italy among of 1130 preschool children has found that non-nutritive sucking and bottle feeding can have a substantial effect on dental occlusion. Open bite was associated with non-nutritive sucking while posterior cross-bite was associated with both bottle feeding and non-nutritive sucking.