My child doesn’t eat sweets and started brushing his teeth at a very young age, so why does he still have cavities?

This is the 3901th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

The mother of a 3-year-old and 6-month-old child was brought to the hospital for fluoride treatment. During the examination, it was found that none of the child's teeth had been brushed clean, and in 3 months, the child had one more decayed tooth! When the mother was asked if the child had brushed his teeth, she said yes; did the child brush his teeth himself or did the parents help brush them? The parents said the child brushed his teeth himself. The parents were very confused and said that they had started brushing their teeth a long time ago and did not eat candy, so why did they still have decayed teeth?

Many parents are puzzled as to why their children still have cavities even though they do not eat sugar or eat very little sugar and start brushing their teeth at an early age! Today we will analyze the reasons.

1. Will I completely avoid tooth decay if I don’t eat sugar?

Many parents say that their children hardly eat sugar and they also control themselves from buying sugar for them. This is the basic understanding of many parents that eating sugar can cause tooth decay. They only think of limiting their children's intake of sugar and chocolate, but forget to prevent children from eating foods that are rich in "sugar". In fact, many foods contain invisible sugars that cause caries (tooth decay), which are easily overlooked, such as cakes, bread, snacks, biscuits, certain puffed foods and sugary drinks. Even foods that we think are natural, such as honey, pure fruit juice, and concentrated fruit juice, all contain sugars, which can be used by bacteria on the tooth surface and cause children's tooth decay!

It is the nature of children to love eating sweets, and parents do not need to force it. The key is to let children eat as little as possible, and to eat sweets in a proper way. Eat a balanced diet, eat sweets scientifically, and control the total amount of sugar intake (preferably less than 25g per day) and frequency. After eating sweets or sweets, be sure to rinse your mouth and brush your teeth; reduce the number of times you eat sweets between meals, and you can eat sweets with meals; eat fresh whole fruits instead of drinking juice, drink sugar-free yogurt instead of lactic acid bacteria drinks, and reasonably choose sugar substitutes (common sugar substitutes such as xylitol, sorbitol, erythritol, etc.). Have you learned it?

A healthy diet and good eating habits are the basis of oral health and overall health. Developing good eating habits will benefit children throughout their lives.

2. Will brushing your teeth prevent tooth decay?

Few children in clinical practice can really brush their teeth cleanly. Why? Most children brush their teeth by themselves, and their parents never help them brush or supervise them. Brushing teeth is a technical job, especially for young children. They cannot brush their teeth completely clean by themselves, and need the help and guidance of their parents, which is very important!!!

We parents often pay attention to choosing so-called good toothbrushes for our children (such as electric toothbrushes, 10,000-bristle toothbrushes, U-shaped toothbrushes, etc., which are often just gimmicks promoted by merchants), thinking that having good tools will achieve twice the result with half the effort, but in fact it is just the opposite. Moreover, parents often choose soft-bristled toothbrushes for their children, which are not strong enough in mechanical cleaning. Even if they brush their teeth with such toothbrushes, it is often ineffective. Parents must supervise and supplement children aged 3 to 6 after they brush their teeth by themselves. Children younger than 3 to 6 years old should be brushed by their parents instead of being left alone. Don't let them go easily! Brush your teeth correctly, use dental floss, and rinse your mouth after meals.

Ensure the quality of brushing teeth

① Brushing teeth ≠ effective brushing;

② Ignoring brushing teeth at night: Some parents only urge their children to brush their teeth in the morning, but ignore brushing their teeth at night. Keeping the oral cavity clean during long sleep is more important for preventing tooth decay.

③ Parents should also teach their children the correct way to brush their teeth and supervise the length of time they brush their teeth (at least 2 minutes)

④ Young children lack self-control, so parents must participate in their children's toothbrushing activities and help them complete the toothbrushing smoothly to ensure quality.

3. Regular oral examinations and timely treatment of tooth decay

Early detection and early treatment. In fact, early treatment of tooth decay is not very hard for children. Parents often worry that their children will not cooperate! Today's dental treatment has changed a lot compared to the past. During the treatment of children's tooth decay, first of all, it can basically ensure that children do not feel pain, especially in professional dental hospitals with pediatric dentists and child psychological dentists. The child's dental treatment process will be very smooth. The later the treatment is, the more it costs, and the effect is often not ideal. In other words, the more money you spend, the better the effect.

4. Topical fluoride and fissure sealing

Fluoride coating is a recognized and effective method for preventing tooth decay, which can reduce the risk of pit and fissure caries by 25%. Deep pits and fissures are not easy to clean with a brush, so pit and fissure sealing can be performed in a timely manner according to the specific situation of the child.

To launch the battle to protect children's oral health, we must be parents who "do not cheat our children" and work together with our children to maintain their oral health.

Author: Jia Shujuan, deputy chief physician of the Department of Stomatology, the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, ambassador for promoting healthy oral health of the China Dental Disease Prevention and Control Foundation, captain of the volunteer "Happiness Bank" YaYaLe Medical Science Service Team of the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, and member of the Children's Dentistry Professional Committee of the Guangdong Stomatological Association.