No, that is incorrect. Jessie has caries of her primary teeth - a condition called "Early Childhood Caries."

Early childhood caries, or ECC, is a term that describes dental caries in infants and toddlers and is among the most prevalent health problem of this age group. Five to ten percent of preschool children have ECC, and the percentage can be as high as 70 percent in some populations.

The United States is facing an epidemic of ECC in ethnic and minority populations. ECC is one of the major causes of hospitalization in young children, who often must receive general anesthetic for extraction or tooth restoration. ECC has gone by many names, including "baby bottle tooth decay," "rampant caries" and "nursing bottle caries."

By the same token, ECC has many definitions and clinical presentations, ranging from a single carious tooth in a baby's mouth to gross destruction of teeth by caries. It can also be defined as any sign of dental caries on any tooth surface during the first three years of life. The first teeth to be affected are the primary maxillary incisors. This may occur within a few months after eruption of these teeth, and unless preventive measures are instituted, the carious process spreads rapidly to affect primary molars and canines.

Not all children colonized with cariogenic bacteria have ECC, however. This indicates that susceptibility to ECC, as with susceptibility to any disease, probably has a genetic component. Additionally, for most people, dental caries occurs most frequently in areas favoring plaque accumulation, such as pits and fissures and between teeth. The progression from initial decalcification to cavitation proceeds slowly in terms of years. But with ECC, which is a particularly virulent form of caries, the tooth surfaces which are usually only affected to a minor extent, such as labial, lingual and proximal surfaces of primary maxillary incisors, the decay starts soon after the teeth erupt and it proceeds rapidly.