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Caries in children is an increasingly common problem affecting children in preschool and school age, but also more and more often also in infants. Caries in children is a serious problem that is often underestimated by parents. What causes tooth decay in children? How does it manifest itself and how to effectively treat it?
The causes of tooth decay in children
Caries in children, as well as in adults, is caused by inadequate oral hygiene. If brushing teeth in adults is not a daily activity, children have no one to follow. Oral hygiene should be taken care of even in infancy before teething, washing the gums with a gauze or cotton pad soaked in water, or a herbal infusion. As time goes on, teach your child to brush their teeth regularly. Children whose milk teeth are poorly mineralized than permanent teeth are much more susceptible to the action of bacteria that cause tooth decay. Caries in children is also often the result of inadequate child nutrition. Bad habits such as feeding your baby at night, letting your baby fall asleep with the bottle, or giving your baby meals full of sugars and carbohydrates, lead to the development of cariogenic bacteria. An important cause of tooth decay in children is also the lack of systematic dental care.
Caries symptoms in children
Caries in children is often not noticeable in the initial stages. The condition is the demineralisation of the enamel, which leads to a carious cavity. The first symptom that we should pay attention to is the appearance of a sticky, white-yellow coating that closely adheres to the toddler’s teeth. In the next stage of caries development in children, a dull, rough white spot or streak appears, which is very easy to see because it differs from healthy enamel. At this stage, caries will continue to develop if proper hygiene and dental treatment are not implemented. The thin and decalcified enamel layer begins to darken and breaks down, causing a carious cavity. In this case, inflammation can even become painful, especially when chewing food. This phase of caries in children requires a dentist’s intervention, drill and filling.
To prevent tooth decay, regular tooth brushing is necessary. Sonic toothbrushes that you can buy at medonetmarket.pl will work best. Especially for milk teeth, we recommend the Sonic toothbrush for children 3+ in pastel color VITAMMY Tooth Friends or the Sonic toothbrush for children 3+ Vitammy Smile MiniMini +.
Ways of treating caries in children
The method of caries treatment in children depends on its stage. In the initial phase, when the enamel is covered with carious stains, it is enough to perform fluoridation at the dentist and brushing the teeth with a toothpaste containing fluoride. Fluoridation treatment consists in applying a special preparation to the teeth, which protects the enamel against bacteria and will support the reconstruction process and will improve the condition of the enamel. When caries in children is already advanced and is associated with large cavities, the treatment method is selected individually. Most often it involves the removal of mechanically diseased tissues and filling the tooth with a filling. It is also possible to impregnate the teeth by soaking the teeth affected by caries in a solution of silver nitrate, which inhibits the development of caries. It sometimes happens that tooth decay in children is so advanced that it is necessary to remove the tooth, which may later affect the occurrence of a malocclusion in children. Teeth treatment can often be painful and, above all, tooth decay in children is unsightly and may have an impact on the condition of the teeth in the future. Therefore, caries prevention in children is very important, and it should start before the appearance of the first teeth. The most important rules, thanks to which we will avoid caries on our child’s teeth, are regular visits to the dentist, brushing the teeth at least twice a day and rinsing them with water after each meal, also for infants, giving the child unsweetened drinks, giving the child plenty of vegetables and fruits containing vitamin A , C and D and not licking the teat or teaspoon before giving it to your baby.
To properly care for children’s teeth, order ELMEX Junior – children’s toothpaste available on Medonet Market.