The important role of the family in oral health care. Oral diseases are common and frequent diseases closely related to people’s living conditions and behavioral habits, which affect the health of people throughout their lives. As the basic unit of social life, family takes on the functions of raising children, aging, transmitting human civilization and social norms, health care and education. Therefore, families play an important role in the prevention of oral diseases and oral health care. Family oral health care and family education should be closely integrated. Family education can complement social education and school education, and has the characteristics of interaction in the formation of good living habits, intimacy of blood relationship, early and lasting parent-child education, which can play a role in the popular application of oral health care knowledge. Family oral health care has good demonstration among family members. Good oral health care habits will benefit every family member. We should create a good dental care environment in family life, brush teeth in the morning and evening, rinse after meals, master the correct brushing method, use fluoride toothpaste, and have regular oral health checkups, so that good dental care habits can be passed on from generation to generation. Family oral health care can improve the parents’ ability to care for their children’s oral health. Parents are the first responsible person for the healthy growth of children and have the due obligation to children’s oral health care. The oral cavity of infants and children depends entirely on parents to take care of them, and the oral health condition of children also has a great relationship with the importance of parents. Parents’ awareness of caries prevention, the degree of caries prevention measures and parents’ own oral health condition are closely related to the occurrence and development of children’s caries. The result of the third national oral health epidemiological survey shows that the caries rate of 5-year-old children’s milk teeth in China is 66%, which is at a high level in the world, and the caries rate of 12-year-old children’s permanent teeth also reaches 29%, while the questionnaire survey results of parents show that only 49% of parents know about fluoride toothpaste, and only 9% of parents can help their children brush their teeth every day. Therefore, it is crucial to promote oral health knowledge to parents, improve their awareness of dental care and care for children’s oral health. Family oral health care should start from “taking care of children and preventing dental caries”. The standard of oral health and the basic content of family oral health care. The standard of oral health is defined by the World Health Organization in 1979: clean teeth, no cavities, no pain, normal color of gums, no bleeding. 2.Basic content of family oral health care. (1) Each family member should brush teeth in the morning and evening, rinse mouth after meals, and use health care toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. (2) Parents supervise or help children brush their teeth. (3) Family members can eat sugar scientifically and drink less carbonated drinks. (4) Help children overcome bad habits such as sucking and biting, tongue spitting and mouth breathing. (5) Family members understand the contents of the “Oral Health Guidelines for Chinese Residents”. (6) Each family member should have oral health examination at least once a year, and the problems found in the examination should receive corresponding preventive and treatment measures in time, such as local fluoride, sulcus closure, caries filling, periodontal scaling, denture restoration, etc. The danger of dental caries to children’s health. Dental caries (commonly known as worm teeth or tooth decay) is the most common oral disease of children. The harm of tooth decay to children is manifested in: 1.pain. When the caries is stimulated by acid, sweet, cold and heat, it will be painful and uncomfortable, which affects eating and sleeping; when the caries further develops and invades the tooth pulp, the pain is obvious, and when it is serious, it will also appear gum, facial swelling, even high fever and other systemic symptoms, which seriously affects the normal growth and development of children. 2.Chewing difficulty. Dental caries can cause children chewing difficulties, affect children to eat multi-fiber vegetables and meat, form bad eating habits such as partial eating, and cause nutritional imbalance; because of the partial chewing caused by dental caries, it can also lead to bilateral facial development asymmetry. 3.Caries of milk teeth affect permanent teeth. The normal development of permanent teeth can be affected by the untimely treatment of milk teeth caries, which can cause the obstacle of permanent teeth eruption and tooth alignment. 4.Psychological influence. Due to the influence of dental caries on speech, aesthetic and other functions, it will cause children’s social interaction difficulties and psychological barriers, and affect children’s physical and mental health. The prevention method of children’s dental caries. 1.Brush teeth in the morning and evening, rinse mouth after meal. Brushing can remove plaque, soft scale and food residue, and rinsing after meals can also remove food residue in the mouth and keep the mouth clean. The key points to guide children to brush their teeth are: (1) Brush teeth twice in the morning and twice in the evening, and it is more important to brush teeth before going to bed at night. (2) Use an age-appropriate health care toothbrush for children and replace it every 3 months. (3) Do one person, one brush, one cup. (4) Parents should help and supervise children to learn to brush their teeth. 2.Prevent tooth decay with local fluorine. Fluorine is a kind of trace element which is necessary for human health, and the intake of appropriate amount of fluorine can reduce the dissolution of teeth by acid and promote the remineralization of teeth, inhibit the growth of oral microorganisms, and prevent the occurrence of dental caries. Fluoride anti-caries measures are suitable for application in low fluoride areas, moderate fluoride areas and high-risk groups in areas with high incidence of dental caries. The key points for guiding children to use fluoride locally to prevent caries are: (1) Pay attention to the dosage when using fluoride toothpaste. Preschool children should brush their teeth with fluoride toothpaste in the amount of pea grain each time, and should apply it under the supervision and guidance of parents or teachers to prevent accidental swallowing. Do not use adult toothpaste for children. (2) Accept topical fluoride measures provided by professional institutions. Parents can bring children to medical institutions or kindergartens and schools to receive topical fluoride anti-caries measures provided by professional institutions and personnel. (3) Fossa closure to prevent fossa caries. Vulval closure is the most effective method to prevent sulcus caries in permanent molars. It is painless, non-invasive, safe and easy to use. The best time to close the sulcus is when the crown of children’s teeth is fully erupted and the caries has not yet occurred, generally the first permanent molar is 6-9 years old and the second permanent molar is 11-13 years old. After the closure, the teeth should be brushed properly and re-sealed if the sealant is found to fall off. (1) If the local government provides free sealants, parents should take the initiative to bring their children to the government-appointed medical institutions for examination and sealants. (2) If the local government has not yet launched a free gutter closure program, parents should also take the initiative to bring their children to a qualified medical institution for examination and gutter closure. 4.Cultivate good eating habits. A healthy diet and good eating habits are the foundation of oral health and general health, and good eating habits will benefit children throughout their lives. (1) Breastfeeding, correct use of bottles. (2) Eat sugar scientifically, drink less carbonated drinks, and stop eating after brushing teeth before bedtime. (3) Eat more fibrous food and enhance chewing function. 5.Regular oral examination and early treatment of tooth decay. The occurrence and progress of dental caries are slow, there is no symptom in the early stage, so it is not easy to be noticed, and the symptom has already reached the middle and late stage, so the treatment is complicated, the patient suffers a lot of pain and spends a lot, and the treatment effect is not as good as the early treatment. Therefore, parents should regularly take their children to medical institutions for oral health checkups to achieve early prevention, early diagnosis and early treatment of oral diseases in children. It is advocated that children should receive oral health examination once every 6 months.