Milk: A drink to keep your teeth healthy

There are two sets of teeth in a person’s life, namely the milk teeth and the permanent teeth. The baby’s milk teeth start to calcify when the mother is 14 weeks pregnant, the baby’s milk teeth start to erupt around 6 months old, and all 20 milk teeth grow in around 2.5 years old. 6 to 12 years old is the period of milk and permanent teeth replacement, and after 12 years old, 28-32 permanent teeth will accompany us all our life. Therefore, 0-12 years old is an important period for dental development, growth and health. 1, 0-3 years old is the infant and toddler period: it is the period when the milk teeth begin to erupt and the permanent teeth are calcifying. This period is characterized by rapid growth, high metabolic rate, and more energy and protein requirements per kilogram of body weight than adults. Therefore, it is necessary to supply adequate amounts of nutritional elements to meet the body’s needs, including the development and growth of teeth. If nutritional disorders are caused by insufficient nutrition or diseases, it will cause delayed eruption of milk teeth or poorly calcified teeth, which will easily lead to dental caries (worm teeth). It will also cause poor enamel development of the unerupted permanent teeth. Breast milk can not meet the needs of infants after 4 months of age, so it becomes urgent to add nutritious supplementary food. Nutritional practice shows that milk, with its rich protein and calcium as the closest quality supplement to human milk, is the preferred dairy product to ensure good development of infants and young children. 2.3-6 years old is the preschool period: it is the period of high incidence of tooth decay of milk teeth. Some survey data shows that in 2005, the caries rate of 5-year-old children in China is 66%, while the caries-free rate of 5-year-old children in developed countries (North America and Nordic countries) is 50-60%, among which the difference of diet and nutrition is an important reason. Children suffering from caries are mostly caused by poor dietary habits, poor oral hygiene and poor development and growth of milk teeth, so comprehensive preventive measures should be taken for children’s oral health. Calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, D and fluoride in milk are the cornerstones for the formation of bones and teeth of normal organism. Milk is a good carrier of fluoride. As early as 1994, the World Health Organization expert committee pointed out that the prevention of dental caries can be achieved whether by drinking water, milk, salt fluoridation or using fluoride toothpaste, etc. For many years, the World Health Organization and the British Paul Foundation cooperated and carried out the project of drinking fluoridated milk to prevent dental caries among children in more than 10 countries and regions around the world. 1994-1999, China carried out a pilot project in more than 10 kindergartens in Haidian District, Beijing. At that time, nearly 4,000 children aged 3-6 participated in the project, and through the clinical evaluation of WHO experts, the caries rate of children who drank fluoridated milk for 2 years was reduced by 30%. 3.6-12 years old is the school age: it is the period of milk and permanent teeth replacement. During this period, students should strengthen nutrition, promote physical development and improve intelligence. In China, there is a government-led national program for students to drink milk. From the perspective of oral health, supplementing nutrition through milk consumption can also promote the growth and development of children’s jawbone and dental arch, and establish a good bite relationship of permanent teeth. It plays an important role in the prevention of malocclusion and dental caries. The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends drinking 300 ml of milk per day. Since 2006, a large amount of scientific data on fluoride caries prevention measures from professional academic organizations such as the International Dental Federation, the World Health Organization and the International Academy of Dentistry and the Chinese Dental Association in China have emphasized that milk is beneficial to oral health. On the contrary, from the perspective of evidence-based medicine, there is no scientific study that milk is harmful to dental development, growth and health. Therefore, from the perspective of dental growth, development and health, milk consumption must also be strongly promoted.