How to prevent baby from getting cavities? Don’t let your child eat adults’ saliva

It is very common for children to have cavities, so parents should pay attention to their children's oral hygiene from an early age. So how can we prevent babies from having cavities in life? What behaviors should parents avoid?

If you want to avoid tooth decay, you must first understand what causes tooth decay

Dental caries is a disease caused by multiple factors, including the host, diet, bacteria, diet and time. If you do not have a good diet and teeth cleaning habits, the same problem will occur again when the deciduous teeth are replaced by permanent teeth. Therefore, the best way to treat dental caries is to prevent it from happening.

1. Bacteria

As far as we know, Mutans Streptococci (MS) is most related to dental caries. Where do the bacteria come from? In the mouths of toothless infants and young children, there is almost no such bacteria. It can only attach to hard surfaces and gather into colonies. In other words, it must wait until the teeth erupt before the bacteria can gather and start to work. It is currently believed that its transmission is mostly vertically infected by infant caregivers (parents). According to research, 71% of MS strains in mothers' mouths are related to young children, followed by horizontal infection of siblings or children of the same age in kindergartens, usually because of the use of the same eating utensils or oral contact (for example: feeding with a spoon or kissing). Therefore, the oral hygiene of family members is related to whether there is dental caries.

2. Host

As the saying goes: A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse gives birth to a son who will dig holes. Genetics will also affect the tooth quality. Some people's teeth are naturally hard, and some people's salivary enzymes are naturally acid-resistant. That's why you often hear people say that someone won't get cavities even if they don't brush their teeth. This is the reason. Therefore, there is indeed a correlation between the oral hygiene of family members and tooth decay.

3. Food

Refined foods and carbohydrates are the main culprits of tooth decay (for example: candies, snacks, cakes, chocolates, small snacks in the market, sugary drinks, etc.), but these foods are not forbidden to be eaten. The key is the number of times you eat them and the length of time you eat each time. In other words, frequency is the most important factor causing the problem. Therefore, it is generally recommended that parents give their children a snack time outside of the three meals. They must finish eating and clean their teeth within 30 minutes. If they do not eat more than four meals a day and each meal is within half an hour, the chance of tooth decay can be greatly reduced.

4. Time

Half an hour after eating, the pH value of the oral cavity will decrease and become acidic. It takes time for it to slowly recover. This is called Stephan's curve. Generally, the pH value at which teeth begin to decalcify is about 5.5. If the teeth are immersed in an environment with a pH value below 5.5 for a long time, decalcification will begin, and then it will turn into caries.

Therefore, it is very important to eat on time, eat for no more than half an hour at a time, clean your teeth after meals and before going to bed, and never eat again after cleaning, which are the ways to prevent tooth decay.

Don't let children eat adults' saliva

Since I was a child, my mother has always taught me not to share food with others. I was very obedient when I was young and just did as she said. I just felt that it was unhygienic to eat other people’s saliva, but I didn’t quite understand why. It was not until I had children that I realized that I needed to strengthen some information and knowledge.

When EE started eating complementary foods, his mom would prepare a set of tableware for him. When he started eating normally after turning one, I would prepare another pair of chopsticks for him. Yes, chopsticks! But I used them to pick up food for him! (It’s amazing that he can use chopsticks after turning one!)

Even as a mother I try not to let my children eat my own saliva, why does EE mom care so much about saliva?

What are the dangers of children eating adults' saliva?

First, tooth decay infection, oral bacterial infection

Don't doubt it! It has been confirmed by dentists that tooth decay is contagious. In fact, adults eat a lot of food and have a lot of bacteria in their mouths. They can be transmitted to babies through saliva, making your baby prone to tooth decay. In addition, everyone should have seen

Let’s take a look at the reports on the “kissing disease”! In fact, it is infectious mononucleosis caused by saliva, so sharing chopsticks and soup forks with children should be avoided as much as possible.

Second, infants and young children have weak resistance and are prone to exchanging viruses through saliva

There are so many viruses nowadays, such as enterovirus, influenza, H1N1, etc., which make people panic. Adults can also be infected with these viruses, but they have more antibodies and may not get sick. However, we don’t know whether such viruses exist in our bodies. If they happen to be present, we don’t know and feed the babies with the tableware we have used, which is equivalent to directly transmitting the virus to the babies with weak resistance!

Adults should understand these two points, but they just think it is not that serious. However, the virus nowadays is indeed more terrifying. Think about it, the flu 10 or 20 years ago should not be so serious!

There are also many cases where our usual negligence has caused a lot of health damage to infants and young children. It is better to be safe than sorry!

Therefore, try not to share tableware or food with your children, and don’t let your children eat adults’ saliva!