What are the white spots in the newborn's mouth?

Recently, some mothers reported that their babies have many small white spots in their mouths, and experts said that their babies may have thrush and should go to the hospital for treatment in time. Mothers should take good care of their babies' oral cavity in time.

What are the white spots in the newborn's mouth?

Thrush is actually an oral inflammation caused by Candida infection of the oral mucosa. It is one of the common diseases of newborns. For newborn babies, it is possible that during vaginal delivery, the mother's vagina is infected with fungi, and the baby is infected by contact with the mother's secretions; it may also be caused by incomplete disinfection of bottles and nipples, breastfeeding, or unclean nipples of the mother. Careful parents will find that babies with thrush can see gray-white pseudomembranes attached to the oral mucosa in the mouth. Neonatal thrush usually occurs within 2-8 days after birth, and the most common sites are cheeks, tongue, soft palate and lips. In these areas, the mucosa will be congested, with scattered soft white spots as white as snow, as small as pinpoints, and they will soon merge into white or blue-white velvety patches and expand and spread. If the baby keeps crying, parents should carefully check the child's physical condition and be careful not to miss the mouth. If thrush continues to develop, it will cause mucosal ulcers and necrosis in severe cases, and even affect the tonsils and pharynx.

What to do if a newborn baby has small white spots in his mouth

Clean your baby's mouth

Candida is difficult to grow and reproduce in an alkaline environment. Sodium bicarbonate solution can be used to keep the oral cavity in an alkaline environment, which is not conducive to the growth of Candida. Therefore, babies with thrush can use 2% sodium bicarbonate solution (baking soda diluted with warm water) to wet a soft cotton cloth and clean the mouth 4-5 times a day. Mechanical cleaning not only removes food debris left in the mouth, but also removes various microorganisms on the mucosa. For premature babies and malnourished newborns, this method can be used as daily care to prevent Candida infection in the newborn's mouth. It should be noted that after using sodium bicarbonate solution to clean the mouth, it is not necessary to wash it with warm water.

Boil honeysuckle and wild chrysanthemum in water to clean the mouth

It is also feasible to use honeysuckle and wild chrysanthemum to boil water for daily oral cleaning. This method has been proven to be suitable for all kinds of people with oral candidiasis. After cleaning the child's mouth, there is no need to add warm water to wash the mouth. The bitter taste of traditional Chinese medicine can also stimulate saliva secretion, and the child will automatically spit out saliva, which is also a good self-mechanical cleaning. Parents only need to add a soft towel to help the child wipe the saliva.

Disinfect frequently to avoid cross infection

Before breastfeeding, the mother should wash her hands and rinse her nipples with warm water. After breastfeeding, she should feed the baby a small amount of warm water. It is recommended that mothers change their underwear frequently every day to avoid cross infection. For artificially fed babies, eating utensils, milk bottles, rubber nipples and medicine cups should be boiled and disinfected before use to avoid cross infection, and the baby should be given adequate water supplementation.

Neonatal oral care taboos

Picking "horse teeth"

Some parents use unclean needles to prick the "horse teeth", which often results in oral infections and even complications such as neonatal sepsis, purulent meningitis and other serious systemic diseases, threatening the health and life of the newborn.

Wipe your mouth

Because the oral mucosa of newborns is tender, if the mouth is wiped with unclean objects, it can easily cause hyperplasia of the oral mucosal epithelium and mucous glands.

Children cannot speak, and if they feel uncomfortable they can only express it by crying. Parents must carefully observe whether the child's crying is normal. If they find that the child should drink milk but does not, and just keeps crying, parents must see if the child has oral disease. If they cannot tell the difference, they must seek a pediatrician for diagnosis and find out the cause to avoid affecting the child's normal development.

Common problems with neonatal oral health

1. Poor calcification

Symptoms: tooth surface peeling, yellowing

Prevention and treatment: In order to achieve good calcification during the period of tooth development, we should strengthen our physical fitness, prevent diseases, and supplement nutrients in a timely and appropriate amount, especially those containing calcium and vitamins D and A. We can eat more bone soup, milk, eggs, beans, fresh vegetables, etc. to meet the needs of body growth and development and promote tooth calcification.

2. Injury to the front teeth

The front teeth are gray-black

The reason is that the front teeth are hit, traumatic bite, etc., which leads to pulp necrosis.

Prevention and treatment: pulp treatment must be performed as soon as possible, and repairs must be performed after bleaching if necessary. Black tooth roots are tartar, which is caused by the accumulation of tartar. These black substances, tartar, and tartar should be removed regularly, at least once a year, to avoid irritating the gums and causing inflammation and bleeding, or causing caries. Parents should create a safe living environment for their babies in daily life to prevent their babies' teeth from being injured.

3. Overbite of deciduous teeth

Manifestations include anterior crossbite or mandibular protrusion, where the lower front teeth cover the upper front teeth

For prevention and treatment, you should go to the hospital to get braces installed. The ideal time to correct your teeth is after all the permanent teeth are replaced.

4. Caries of deciduous teeth

Symptoms include discoloration, decalcification, small holes or even missing teeth

Prevention is the key to preventing caries in primary teeth. You should check your oral cavity regularly. Rinse your mouth after every meal and do not sleep with a bottle in your mouth. In addition, you can apply fluoride topically to prevent caries.

If you find tooth decay, go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.