Have a neat, beautiful teeth is the wish of many mothers, many parents will have such a mistake, think caries is only caused by eating sugar, then why some babies do not eat sugar and rotten teeth? Today, I will tell you why.
There is no denying that the occurrence of caries is closely related to food, especially sugar. However, many parents only think of limiting their children to eat candy, chocolate and sweets, but forget to prevent other kinds of rich 'sugar' in children's food. As we all know, children's diet is mostly soft food, such as milk powder, cake, biscuit and some expanded food. Their common characteristics are strong viscosity, high sugar content, easy to stay on the surface of teeth to ferment and produce acid, which has become one of the important factors of caries. Dr. Xu Wenan reminds parents to pay attention to preventing all kinds of sugar from staying in their children's mouths. Parents who like sweet food should control their children's sweet food intake. Sugar between meals is more likely to cause tooth decay than sugar during meals, so they should eat less sweet snacks between meals. At the same time, after eating sugar or sweets, remember to rinse and brush your teeth to avoid sugar residue in your mouth.
How to help baby prevent caries from childhood?
1. Baby teeth care should start from birth
Dr. Xu Wenan said that the baby's dental care should start from the birth, and do not neglect the baby's oral care because the baby has no teeth. Before the baby's teeth erupt, the mother should use gauze to dip in clear water or light salt water to gently wipe the baby's teeth every day. After the baby's teeth grow out, she should also use the same method to clean the baby's small teeth. In the morning and evening, she can also buy a special fingertip brush to dip in clear water or light salt water to clean the baby's teeth. During this period, the baby should avoid sleeping with a bottle, because when sleeping, the liquid in the bottle will become an excellent medium for cariogenic bacteria in the mouth; in addition, the carbohydrate in the bottle liquid will be decomposed by the bacteria to produce acid, erode the teeth, and form caries. When children can eat rice, parents should pay attention not to let children develop the habit of eating and playing with rice. Because rice also contains sugar, it will produce acid fermentation and tooth decay if it stays in the mouth for a long time.
2. Choose the right toothbrush and toothpaste for the baby
When a baby should start brushing his teeth is a concern of many mothers. Dr. Xu Wenan suggested that you should start brushing your baby's teeth as soon as the baby's first primary teeth grow out.
At the beginning, you can use a special fingertip brush, dip in water or light salt water to clean your baby's teeth. When you are about 2 years old, you can choose a baby's toothbrush with soft hair and small head, dip in water to brush your teeth. When the baby is about 3 years old, you can choose a fluoride free toothpaste for the baby to brush your teeth. In this period, the baby is easy to swallow toothpaste, so it is necessary to choose a safe fluoride free toothpaste. When the children go to the middle or large class of kindergarten, they can start to use fluoride toothpaste, but they can only use the amount of mung bean at a time, and they also need to ensure that the children can rinse their mouth dry and clean. The parents must supervise at the same time to ensure that the children spit out the mouthwash after brushing their teeth. Children over 6 years old should use health toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste, because fluoride can effectively prevent cavities. Now the incidence of cavities in children is very high, we must do a good job in prevention. When choosing toothbrush, we should pay attention to the following points: the brush head of toothbrush is round and small, and the length cannot exceed the width of four front teeth; the brush hair of toothbrush should be soft, and the front brush hair is longer; the brush handle is anti-skid design.
3. Take the baby to the hospital for oral examination regularly
Many parents feel that as long as the children have no problems, they don't need to go to the hospital. As for the teeth, as long as they don't have rotten teeth, they don't need to see a doctor. Dr. Xu Wenan stressed that the tooth lesions are irreversible, so we must prevent them as soon as possible. Parents should take their children to the stomatologist for oral examination regularly after the first deciduous tooth erupts, and implement some necessary caries prevention measures, such as fluoride application, pit and groove sealing, etc.
4. Timely treatment is necessary in case of caries
Dr. Xu Wenan reminded all parents that once a child's caries is found, it must be dealt with in a timely manner, and there must be no wrong idea that the primary teeth will be replaced sooner or later, and they will not be treated if they are damaged.
If the caries is not treated in time, it will cause serious consequences. The most direct effect of caries is that it will affect children's eating. Because caries can cause pain, children can only eat soft food, which is easy to cause malnutrition, and may also let children develop the habit of picking food. Caries can also affect the growth of new teeth, resulting in uneven teeth. Dr. Xu Wenan said that caries may also cause fever. If you don't find the right reason for the treatment, it's difficult to cure. In addition, if the child's caries is serious, it is easy to be laughed at by children as' rotten teeth ', which may also affect the child's mental health.