Should caries in deciduous teeth be filled? What should I do if caries occur in deciduous teeth?

Do you need to fill caries in deciduous teeth? Many parents do not let their children develop healthy living habits when they are young, which causes caries problems in their children. Today, let's talk about what to do about caries in deciduous teeth. You need to develop good habits of taking care of your teeth from an early age.

Should caries of deciduous teeth be filled?

Caries in deciduous teeth must be treated and diagnosed early. It should not be left alone just because the deciduous teeth will be replaced. This is a very wrong approach.

If the caries in deciduous teeth are not repaired in time, caries will gradually develop and eventually the entire tooth will rot. Without a healthy deciduous tooth, the erupting permanent tooth will also have caries. If the child's caries has developed into deep caries, it is recommended to extract it in time to avoid affecting the permanent tooth germ. A permanent tooth inhibitor can be worn to prevent the permanent tooth from erupting prematurely.

The harm of caries in deciduous teeth

1) Baby teeth last a long time!

Some parents think that since baby teeth are replaced after a few years, they don’t need to worry about their maintenance. But did you know that the longest service life of baby teeth is up to 10 years?

On average, children start growing teeth around 6 months old, enter the tooth replacement period at 6 years old, and will not have all their teeth replaced until they are 12 years old. This means that the teeth that grow when the baby is 6 months old will not start to be replaced until the age of 6; the teeth that the baby grows when he is 2 years old will not be replaced until the age of 12!

Teeth Eruption and Replacement Timeline

2) Deciduous teeth can also be affected by caries, and permanent teeth are also vulnerable

The pulp cavity of deciduous teeth is wide and thin-walled. Once caries occurs, it is easy to rot into the pulp cavity, damage the dental nerve, and even continue to develop deeper. Under each deciduous tooth is buried the corresponding "permanent tooth germ". Once the bacteria continue to go deeper and erode the permanent tooth germ underneath, the baby's permanent teeth will not grow out, or will be defective once they grow out. (Parents Camp: bamaying) Moreover, caries is ultimately a bacterial infection. The tooth replacement period is from 6 to 12 years old, for as long as 6 years, there are both deciduous teeth and permanent teeth in the mouth. Caries in deciduous teeth will increase the risk of caries in permanent teeth, especially adjacent permanent teeth.

3) Early loss of deciduous teeth and dental deformity

The deciduous teeth are the guides for the eruption of permanent teeth. The permanent tooth germs are hidden under the deciduous teeth, waiting for the right time to "break out of the ground" and "replace" them. If caries cause premature loss or extensive damage of deciduous teeth, the adjacent teeth will tilt toward the gap between the missing teeth and occupy the vacant position. When the permanent teeth below erupt, there will not be enough space, and the arrangement of the permanent teeth will be disordered, causing malocclusion.

Malocclusion, including the common crowded teeth, overbite, buck teeth, etc., is not only unsightly, but may also cause problems such as slurred speech.

4) If the child chews on one side for a long time, his face will become crooked

Whether toothache is caused by caries, or teeth are decayed and cannot be used, it will cause children to chew on one side for a long time. Over time, it will cause asymmetric masseter muscles, which may cause asymmetric facial development on both sides of the child, affecting the bite and facial appearance.

5) Chewing function declines, digestion, absorption, growth and development are affected

Once caries invades the dental pulp, it will cause toothache when encountering hot, cold, sour or sweet stimulation. Children are afraid to chew with the affected teeth, which reduces the chewing function. If food cannot be fully chewed, it will affect digestion and absorption. Because the teeth are difficult to bite, children may also be picky eaters, choose soft and easy-to-swallow foods, and are unwilling to eat vegetables that are high in fiber and require full chewing. These will lead to malnutrition and affect the growth and development of children.

6) Affecting children’s mental health

Don’t think that it doesn’t matter because the child is young. Children aged two or three already understand beauty and ugliness. If they are laughed at for having black teeth in kindergarten, it will hurt the child’s self-esteem and self-confidence and affect their character development.

7) Affects overall health

When caries of deciduous teeth develop, causing pulp exposure and even the infection spreading to the apical area, the affected tooth can become a lesion for systemic diseases, causing low fever, rheumatoid arthritis, nephritis, etc.

Children are prone to dental caries and parents do not pay attention to it

"Most people think that children's baby teeth will be replaced anyway, so there is no need to treat them if they are decayed. It is true that baby teeth will fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth, but caries in baby teeth still need treatment." Li Liping, chief physician of the Department of Stomatology at the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital, said that young children now suffer from caries at a relatively early age. Some have varying degrees of caries on their upper front teeth when they are over one year old. Because they do not pay attention to oral care and drink milk from bottles, children suffer from severe incisor tooth defects, namely incisor caries, which affects their pronunciation.

It is understood that dental caries is a bacterial disease. Director Li has been engaged in pediatric dentistry for more than 30 years. She found that with the diversification of children's diets and insufficient attention to oral hygiene, the age of children suffering from dental caries is getting younger and younger. Some one- or two-year-old children have dental caries on all six of their upper front teeth because they were not treated in time when the teeth decayed in the early stage, resulting in large-scale defects or even early loss of deciduous teeth.

In addition, most children nowadays prefer sweets, such as sugary drinks, cakes and desserts, etc. There is too much sugar in their diet, and they do not brush their teeth or rinse their mouths in time after eating, or they do not brush their teeth correctly, brush their teeth carelessly, or do not clean their teeth thoroughly. Coupled with the lack of attention and supervision by parents, these are all factors that contribute to the high incidence of dental caries.

Director Li said that the high incidence of caries in young children's deciduous teeth is also related to the wrong ideas of parents. Many parents believe that deciduous teeth will be replaced by permanent teeth sooner or later. Therefore, they do not pay enough attention to children's oral hygiene. Even if deciduous teeth are carious, as long as the children do not complain of toothache, parents will not take their children to the hospital for treatment. Many parents believe that deciduous teeth will be replaced eventually and do not need treatment. This view is very wrong.