How many kids are “dating” the dentist? During summer vacation, pediatric dentists are always doubly busy. Parents often complain to the dentist: “‘We urge our children to brush their teeth every morning and evening, and rinse their mouths after meals, but why do they still have rotten teeth?” “Your child’s milk teeth are neat and tidy, but why do they become crooked after tooth replacement?” “Children’s dental care is not as simple as some parents think, not only need to fight a “long-lasting war”, but also need to take early precautions.” Many children go to the dentist to get treatment for their dental problems, but prevention is actually more important than treatment. Studies have shown that for every dollar invested in oral prevention,$10 can be saved on treatment. Common oral diseases such as caries and its complications, abnormal tooth development, and poor oral hygiene habits not only undermine oral health and are detrimental to a child’s ability to project a good personal image, but may also affect general health. Parents, do you know the focus of oral health care for children of each age group? Do you know what questions you should ask your dentist? Brushing every day can not completely offset caries “negative factors” Case: Xiaomeng was two years old when the first time to see the dentist, the doctor pulled out hidden in the teeth of the “small black spots”. “The child has not grown teeth when you start to use gauze to clean the teeth, teeth after the morning and evening brushing, rinsing after meals, why there will be caries?” Xiaomeng’s mother has always believed that she is a dental care “model student”, the child’s oral problems feel a little aggrieved. “There are many factors that cause dental caries in children, such as the infection of caries-causing bacteria, the influence of dietary habits, individual caries susceptibility, etc., many links have to be taken care of. Let the child brush his teeth every day, rinse his mouth after meals, although it will reduce the risk of dental caries, but can not completely offset the negative factors of caries in feeding. Some children do regular daily teeth cleaning, but brushing itself cannot remove pathogenic bacteria from the mouth. Some children have an acidic or sweet diet and may not always remember to rinse their mouths thoroughly after snacking on fruit. “Nutritional good, good taste” of yogurt is the love of small children, but drinking without timely brushing their teeth, often become an invitation to caries “accomplices”. Preschoolers generally brush their own teeth, if the brushing action is not in place, not enough time, will also make the effect of teeth cleaning discount. “Parents should not wait until caries and other oral diseases have occurred before taking their children to the hospital to mend their wounds.” It is wiser to target dental care for each age group and see the dentist regularly to understand the key points of dental care for this age group. For example, infants and toddlers should focus on developing teeth-cleaning habits and should see a dentist within one year of age. Preschoolers should correct bad oral habits, such as lip-biting and finger-sucking, as early as possible. School-age children should go through the “ugly duckling period” from the loss of milk teeth to the eruption of permanent teeth, prevent fissure caries and avoid dental trauma. To adolescence, in addition to the early treatment of dental irregularities, but also to start a lifetime of dental care issues, that is, the prevention of gingivitis, periodontitis. Different ages Oral health care focus on different Infancy (0 ~ 3 years old): within 1 year to see the dentist From birth to three years old, the biggest change in the child’s oral cavity is from toothless to grow teeth, parents should pay attention to the correct way of feeding, and at the same time cultivate the habit of taking the child to see the dentist on a regular basis. “Babies are less than one year old, they don’t understand the doctor’s instructions at all, and some of them may not have teeth yet, so why should they see a dentist?” “I use gauze dipped in water to wipe the child’s teething bed, is this not enough?” Zhao Wei points out that it is indeed not enough. Babies should see a dentist within one year of age. In addition to early oral health status assessment, the main purpose is for the doctor to communicate with parents and to popularize oral health care knowledge. Parents should be aware of proper feeding practices. They should pay attention to feeding hygiene as well as their own oral hygiene to avoid spreading pathogenic bacteria to their children. After the eruption of milk teeth, do not let the child long time containing sweet milk or sweet drinks bottle, especially can not contain the bottle to sleep, otherwise it will cause infant caries, commonly known as “bottle caries”. Some parents, especially grandparents, like to chew food and feed their children, or put the pacifier or spoon into their mouth to test the temperature, which are not appropriate. Because the mouth is an open bacterial environment, saliva exchange will lead to the spread of bacteria to the child, and the earlier the caries-causing bacteria to the child, the more likely to become the dominant flora, the more likely that the child will suffer from caries. Preschool children (3~6 years old): finger sucking, lip biting and tongue spitting should be changed At the age of 3~6 years old, children have basically erupted a complete array of milk teeth. Parents should pay attention to help children quit bad oral habits, found that milk teeth caries timely treatment. Babies love to suck their fingers, bite the lower lip, spit out the tongue, looks very cute, in fact, belong to the bad oral habits, may cause maxillary protrusion, dental arch narrowing, dental crowding and other malformations of the mouth and jaw. Parents should promptly advise, or go to the hospital as soon as possible, through the appropriate correction methods to help children quit. Children in the preschool stage have a high incidence of milk tooth caries due to a richer diet. “Many parents think that milk teeth always need to be replaced, and when they are broken, they are broken, do they still need to be treated? This view is wrong.” Zhao Wei pointed out that there are four major hazards of milk tooth caries. One is to cause the child toothache, gums, facial swelling, and even high fever and other systemic symptoms. Secondly, it is likely to affect the development of permanent tooth embryo, directly affecting the eruption form of permanent teeth as well as the arrangement structure. Thirdly, in severe cases, it may hinder the development of the child’s jaw and face. Fourthly, it will affect the child’s diet and nutritional intake, such as reluctance to eat vegetables containing much fiber and meat that needs to be chewed, resulting in poor eating habits such as partiality, which will affect the normal growth and development of the whole body. For children who have a tendency to suffer from caries, it is recommended to receive dental fluoride coating in the hospital, which plays a role in preventing caries through the slow release of fluoride ions by fluoride protective varnish, and it is usually recommended that the coating be applied regularly every 3~6 months. School age (6~12 years old): Don’t knock the permanent teeth Early closure of the fossa After children go to elementary school, the biggest change in the oral cavity is the replacement of teeth. At this stage, the child’s 20 milk teeth will gradually be replaced by 28 permanent teeth. Tooth replacement is a physiological process, the normal order is that the milk teeth are loosened first, and then the permanent teeth erupt. If the milk teeth have not fallen out and the permanent teeth have erupted first, the newly erupted permanent teeth often do not enter the dentition smoothly, resulting in misalignment of the permanent teeth. “Lively and active, easy to get hurt is the characteristics of school-age children. Preventing and treating dental trauma is one of the priorities during this period.” Zhao Wei pointed out that teeth are non-renewable hard tissues, and bleeding gums, cracked teeth, broken teeth, loosening and shifting of teeth should be seen immediately after an injury. Participating in sports activities and games, wearing sports protective braces when playing impact sports such as basketball and soccer or racing sports such as roller skating can effectively reduce the chances of dental trauma. Another important task in school-age oral health care is to avoid fossa caries. The fossa pockets on the surfaces of the molars are high risk areas for caries. The “six-year-old teeth” are the earliest permanent molars to erupt and are also the most susceptible to caries, even causing premature loss, so it is important to protect the first permanent molars of children. Fissure sealing can achieve a better effect of caries prevention by applying a layer of adhesive resin to fill the fissures of the teeth, making the tooth surface smooth and easy to clean, protecting the enamel from bacteria and metabolites, and enhancing the teeth’s ability to resist caries. Adolescence (12 ~ 18 years old): prevention and treatment of gingivitis orthodontic orthodontics at the time Adolescent children’s teeth have fully erupted, pay attention to the prevention and treatment of gingivitis. Teeth are not aligned, should be timely orthodontic treatment. Due to changes in sex hormone levels during puberty, coupled with the accumulation of plaque, adolescents are more likely to gingivitis, manifested in bleeding gums when brushing and biting hard objects, swollen gums, oral odor. The most effective way to prevent gingivitis in teenagers is to brush teeth properly to remove plaque. After the occurrence of bleeding gums and other conditions, it is necessary to go to the hospital in a timely manner for treatment such as dental cleaning , to stop the progress of gingivitis. “Children with malocclusion seeking orthodontic treatment, it is recommended that the first visit to the pediatric dentistry, oral health status assessment and receive oral health education. During the orthodontic process, if the oral health care is not synchronized properly, it is easy to develop caries and even lead to orthodontic failure.” Zhao Wei said that usually around the age of 12, milk teeth are completely replaced with permanent teeth. If there are teeth misalignment and other occlusal deformities, can be corrected in this period, easy to achieve good treatment results. In the process of orthodontic treatment, especially need to pay attention to oral health care, to avoid the orthodontic teeth alignment, but full of caries. Children undergoing orthodontic treatment should brush their teeth after every meal to remove plaque and retained food debris, and it is recommended to choose orthodontic toothbrushes and interdental brushes to clean their teeth.