Twenty-nine percent of mothers expose their children
to dental caries by putting them to bed every night
with a bottle of milk. Studies4 have shown that when
the oral flora comes into contact with lactose with
increasing frequency and for longer periods of time,
the cariogenic bacteria metabolize the lactose quickly,
Figure 1. Soothing routines used by mothers at their child’s bedtime
1 Dr. Chantal Galarneau is a
dental consultant at the
Direction de la santé
publique de la
Montérégie.
Address
correspondence to:
1255 rue Beauregard
Longueuil (Québec)
J4K 2M3
or to c.galarneau@
rrsss16.gouv.qc.ca
2 Dr. Jean-Marc Brodeur is a
professor at the
Department of social and
preventive medicine and a
researcher at GRIS,
Université de Montréal.
3 Dr. Lise Gauvin is a
professor at