What to do if a 5-year-old child has cavities?

If children eat too much sugar during their growth, they may have many cavities. Cavities are very harmful to children. Cavities will affect their appetite and cause toothache. Eating sweets will be particularly painful. This is called cavities. Many children do not brush their teeth regularly and do not rinse their mouths after eating at night. They may also have cavities. So what should we do if a 5-year-old child has cavities?

1. Ensure the normal eruption of permanent teeth. When caries occurs in deciduous teeth, if it is not treated in the early stage, it can further develop into pulpitis and apical periodontitis, which may affect the developing permanent tooth germ at the apex and cause morphological deformities of the permanent teeth. Severe caries of deciduous teeth can cause them to fall out prematurely, causing crowding and uneven arrangement of permanent teeth, affecting the appearance, laying the seeds for caries in permanent teeth, and seriously affecting the health of infants and young children.

2. Avoid serious tooth decay, which will cause greater damage and make treatment more complicated. Because the appearance and aggravation of tooth decay are gradual, children usually do not feel pain when a "small hole" first appears on their teeth. But as the saying goes, "If you don't fill a small hole, you will suffer from a big hole." Pain and swelling will not occur until the small hole becomes a big hole and develops into pulpitis and apical periodontitis. At this time, treatment will be much more troublesome.

3. Prevent children from developing other complications. When the deciduous teeth suffer from severe caries, the first thing that will be harmed is the deciduous teeth themselves, such as causing tooth defects, resulting in residual crowns, residual roots, tooth loss, etc., which will reduce or lose the child's chewing function. In addition, caries in deciduous teeth can cause ulcers in adjacent oral tissues, hinder tongue movement, cause gingivitis, and even cause lymphadenitis, cellulitis, jaw osteomyelitis, and sinusitis in the corresponding areas. Dental caries may also cause systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, endocarditis, chronic nephritis, and retinitis.

How to effectively prevent tooth decay in children

1. Improve your diet

A balanced diet includes different types of food such as fruits, dairy products, grains, vegetables, meat, eggs, etc. that are rich in vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and fluoride, and less high-sugar foods. A balanced diet is helpful for children's dental health.

2. Correct your child’s bad habits

Young children have poor self-discipline, and some will unconsciously bite their fingers, suck their lips, lick their tongues, breathe with their mouths open, chew on one side, etc. These habits can cause dental deformities in children. Once discovered, parents should correct it in time.

3. Pay attention to oral hygiene from an early age

This is the key to preventing "tooth decay". Develop the habit of brushing teeth in the morning and evening, and rinsing mouth after meals from an early age. Choose fluoride toothpaste and health children's toothbrush, and teach children the correct way to brush teeth - vertical brushing method.

4. Develop good feeding habits from an early age

After feeding your child each time, clean up the food residue with gauze in time, massage the gums, and be careful not to add sugar to the milk before bedtime, just give plain water.

Fortunately, the child has not started to change his teeth when he is 5 years old. If the child gets cavities after changing his teeth, the harm will be greater. This will affect the child's teeth for a lifetime. Bad teeth will also affect the appearance. If the child has changed his teeth, then during this period, do not give the child any sweets, and pay attention to care in daily life. The above methods also need to be used for children.