The dangers of tooth decay in children

Nowadays, many parents always forbid their children to eat this or that, because they are worried that their children will eat too much snacks and sugar, which will cause tooth decay. When children's teeth just grow out, they are white and very strong. Because many parents do not care about their children, they give their children some foods such as lollipops, which will cause children to have tooth decay. Let's understand what are the hazards?

The hazards to overall health include:

1. Affect growth and development. Due to the pain of tooth decay and the early loss of deciduous teeth, the chewing function is reduced and the gastrointestinal digestion and absorption are weakened, resulting in malnutrition of the body and affecting growth and development.

2. Cause infectious diseases. When children's dental caries cause periapical infection, it often becomes an infection focus, causing systemic infection. Related diseases include decreased vision, arthritis, nephritis, myocarditis, long-term low fever, etc.

3. Root granulomas, cysts, and pulp infections caused by caries can become infection lesions. When the body's resistance is reduced due to excessive fatigue, colds, etc., it can induce nephritis, rheumatic fever, tonsillitis, impetigo, scarlet fever, sepsis, etc. Studies have shown that 81% of children with deep caries, residual roots, and tooth abscesses have local lymphadenopathy, especially the submandibular lymph nodes. After caries treatment, 70% of enlarged lymph nodes can disappear.

4. The oral temperature of children with caries is higher than that of normal children, the total white blood cell count in the blood is increased, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate is increased, the red blood cell count is decreased, the hemoglobin is low, and the total serum protein is changed. After tooth decay is treated, it returns to normal, but the total serum protein does not change much in the short term. Therefore, when a child has unexplained low fever, anemia, increased white blood cell count and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, it may be advisable to conduct an oral examination first.

5. Cause psychological barriers. Infancy is the period when children learn language, and complete deciduous teeth help children master correct pronunciation. Decayed and early loss of deciduous teeth can cause children to have unclear pronunciation. Severe caries in the deciduous front teeth area make some children shy to speak, which is very detrimental to the children's psychological development.

In fact, tooth decay in children is also a psychological disease. If they find that their teeth are different from others, they will feel inferior. Tooth decay will cause toothache, gum inflammation, and infection. Therefore, parents should pay attention to giving their children more fruits, especially fresh fruits and vegetables.