During a kindergarten physical examination, 3-year-old Xiaozhi was found to have tooth decay. The teacher told Xiaozhi's mother to take the child to the treatment quickly. Although Xiao Zhi's mother verbally agreed to the teacher, she thought disapprovingly in her heart: "Aren't the deciduous teeth changed sooner or later, and can they be treated?" ”
Like Xiao zhi's mother before, I also thought that the deciduous teeth were broken and did not need treatment. It wasn't until a lecture held in the kindergarten that I learned that deciduous teeth moths not only affect the child's appearance, but also affect the child's health.
First, the harm of tooth decay
What are the harms of deciduous tooth decay? Let's talk to you first, in my lecture on science popularization in kindergarten, the doctor shared a case with us.
The doctor said she had treated a 5-year-old child who looked noticeably shorter than her peers and didn't look good. When the doctor examined his teeth, there were ten tooth decays. After a period of treatment, the child's mother said to the doctor: "I thought that the child ate less because of picky eating, but it turned out to be because of tooth decay!" After this period of treatment, the child's meal intake has increased significantly, and he has grown a lot taller! ”
It can be seen that deciduous teeth are harmful to children not just a little. Let's take a look at the main hazards of deciduous teeth?
1. Affect the aesthetics.
We all know that teeth will turn black when they are mothed, which will seriously affect the appearance. When a child speaks or laughs, he may be ridiculed by others, which in turn will affect the child's self-confidence.
2. Affects chewing, which in turn affects digestive function.
The biggest function of teeth is to help us chew food. When tooth decay causes tooth loss, chewing function is significantly reduced, and when food is not fully chewed, it can affect your child's digestive system. This in turn affects the child's growth and development.
3. Affect the development of permanent teeth.
When deciduous tooth moth is not treated in time, it will slowly develop into pulpitis and then develop into periapical periapical inflammation. When inflammation spreads around the tooth pole, it affects the development of the permanent tooth embryo under the deciduous teeth, which can cause the permanent teeth to fail to erupt.
4. Affect the pronunciation of speech.
When deciduous teeth are missing, it can affect your child's bite, which in turn affects your child's pronunciation.
Second, the cause of tooth decay
I once heard some parents ask, "I obviously didn't give my child candy, why do my children still have tooth decay?" "In fact, in addition to eating too much sugar, there are many reasons for children's tooth decay.
1. Dietary aspects
In our daily food, in addition to candy, there are many foods that contain sugar. Such as carbides, fruits, snacks, etc. Snacks in particular, nowadays children have a wide variety of snacks, and most snacks contain a lot of sugar. Such as carbonated drinks, juices, chocolates, cakes, etc.
In addition to snacks, some children like to drink milk before going to bed and do not brush their teeth in time after drinking. This too
2. Tooth cleaning is not in place
When your child finishes eating food, there will be food debris in the grooves or between the teeth of the big teeth. If these residues are not cleaned in time, bacteria will breed bacteria, which in turn will produce acidic substances to corrode the teeth. This, in turn, leads to the development of tooth decay.
Although some children brush their teeth, there are problems such as brushing angle, force is not right, and the use of time is too short, resulting in teeth cleaning not in place, so even if they are brushed, they will still have tooth decay.
3. Deciduous tooth structure
The outermost layer of teeth is enamel, which is the hardest substance in teeth and is the first line of defense to protect our teeth. Since the enamel of deciduous teeth is inherently less mineralized than that of permanent teeth, it is more sensitive to acids produced by bacteria, which is why deciduous teeth are more susceptible to moths.
Third, how to prevent tooth decay
According to the fourth epidemiological survey in China in 2017, the incidence of deciduous teeth in 3-year-old children is as high as 50%, while the incidence of deciduous teeth in 5-year-old children is as high as 70.9%. It can be seen that the incidence of tooth decay in children is extremely high. So, in daily life, how can we prevent children from tooth decay? We can prevent it from the following aspects.
1. Clean your teeth in time and develop a good habit of brushing your teeth
When the child finishes eating, let the child rinse his mouth or drink a few sips of water in time, which can play a role in cleaning the teeth. When you find food debris between your child's teeth, you can use floss to help your child clean up.
Insist on brushing your child's teeth once a day in the morning and once in the evening. And teach your child the correct brushing posture. For example, brushing teeth to ensure that the upper and lower teeth, inside and outside teeth are brushed; the upper teeth are brushed downwards, the lower teeth are brushed upwards; the toothbrush is at a 45-degree angle to the teeth, and the teeth are brushed in a circled posture. For younger children, after the child brushes his own teeth, it is recommended that parents brush the child again.
The choice of toothbrush and toothpaste is also important. When we choose a toothbrush for your child, we recommend choosing a toothbrush with a slightly thicker handle to help your child grasp. The hand of the toothbrush is recommended to be softer, and the head of the toothbrush is smaller, so as not to hurt the child's teeth. In terms of toothpaste, it is recommended to choose a fluoride children's toothpaste, which is conducive to the protection of deciduous teeth.
2． Bring your child to fluoride regularly
Applying fluoride to the teeth is like putting on a body armor for the teeth, which can effectively improve the resistance of the teeth. It is generally recommended that after the child's deciduous teeth erupt, you can take the child to do fluoride every 3 months, which can prevent tooth decay to a certain extent.
3. After the molar teeth grow out, do the pit and groove closure in time
We have a lot of grooves in our molars. Pit and groove sealing is to apply self-coagulating sealant and light to harden it and form a protective barrier at the groove, socket and point gap of the molar. It can effectively prevent food residues and bacteria from invading the teeth and forming tooth decay.
It is generally recommended to do the pit closure of the deciduous molars at the age of 3-4 years; the pit and groove closure of the first permanent tooth at the age of 6-7 years; and the pit and groove closure of the second permanent tooth at the age of 11-13. Because the use of deciduous molars is short, and there may be a phenomenon of non-cooperation when the child is younger, some doctors do not require the deciduous molars to do fissure closure. Since the permanent teeth will never be changed again after they grow out, it is recommended that parents still need to take their children to do it.
Write at the end
As the saying goes, "Prevention is more important than cure". Therefore, for the sake of your child's health, please take good care of your child's baby teeth from now on.