In some instances, caries are described in other ways that might indicate the cause. "
Baby bottle caries", "early childhood caries", or "
baby bottle tooth decay" is a pattern of decay found in young children with their
deciduous (baby) teeth. The teeth most likely affected are the maxillary anterior teeth, but all teeth can be affected.
[16] The name for this type of caries comes from the fact that the decay usually is a result of allowing children to fall asleep with sweetened liquids in their bottles or feeding children sweetened liquids multiple times during the day. Another pattern of decay is "rampant caries", which signifies advanced or severe decay on multiple surfaces of many teeth.
[17] Rampant caries may be seen in individuals with
xerostomia, poor oral hygiene, stimulant use (due to drug-induced dry mouth
[18]), and/or large sugar intake. If rampant caries is a result of previous radiation to the head and neck, it may be described as radiation-induced caries. Problems can also be caused by the self destruction of roots and whole
tooth resorption when new teeth erupt or later from unknown causes. Dr. Miller stated in 1887 that "Dental decay is chemico-parasitic process consisting of two stages, the decalcification of enamel, which results in its total destruction and the decalcification of dentin as a preliminary stage followed by dissolution of the softened residue." In his hypothesis, Dr.Miller assigned essential roles to three factors:
- Carbohydrate substrate.
- Acid which caused dissolution of tooth minerals.
- Oral micro organisms which produce acid and also cause proteolysis.
