Why does a child have bad rotten teeth: reasons and salvation

According to statistics, caries occurs more often in children than in adults. This is one of the most common reasons for visiting a dentist, because not only permanent teeth, but also baby teeth are susceptible to destruction.

Children do not like to be treated, and often parents feel sorry for the child until the last moment and do not take him to the dentist in order to avoid stressful situations. But you need to understand that the health of his teeth in adulthood will depend on how they care for their baby’s oral cavity in childhood.

Bad teeth in a child: reasons

A child’s baby teeth rot for various reasons.
Some are impossible to influence, others can be easily eliminated by dentists and caring adults. Most often, destruction of the enamel, and subsequently the coronal part of the primary occlusion units, is facilitated by:

• Disorders of intrauterine development of a child. Developmental pathologies are formed due to maternal toxicosis, non-compliance with nutritional recommendations, and the use of potent medications.
• Early birth of the baby. Prematurity of a baby indicates incomplete formation of internal systems - in particular, weak thin enamel of baby teeth.
• Antibacterial therapy administered to a child in the first year of life.
• Poor hygiene. Lack of systematic cleaning after the first tooth erupts, improper care, and inadequate parental control.
• Unbalanced child nutrition. Predominance of flour and sweets in the menu, lack of fermented milk and dairy products, hard fruits and vegetables.
• Reduced immunity. Congenital or due to a lack of vitamins in the diet.
• Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, dysbacteriosis.
• Diseases of the endocrine system - diabetes mellitus.
• Previous infections - ARVI, chicken pox, scarlet fever.
• Pathogenic microflora entering the baby’s mouth from the outside. If family members have the habit of licking the baby’s spoon or pacifier, or kissing the baby on the lips.
• Poor ecology is a significant external factor that negatively affects the condition of the child’s teeth and general well-being.
• Heredity - parents or grandparents have bad teeth.
• Mechanical injuries, external damage to tooth enamel - cracks, small chips.

How to determine if a child has bad baby teeth

A child's rotten front teeth are immediately visible. These are dark or yellow spots of enamel, reddened gums, and damaged edges. But sometimes decay begins on the distant teeth - molars, premolars, and then you need to focus on indirect signs.

The fact that a child is growing bad teeth is indicated by:

• complaints of pain and discomfort - reaction to toothpaste, hot or cold foods;
• unpleasant odor from the baby’s mouth - putrid, pungent;
• change in enamel color - the appearance of dark stripes, yellow or dark spots;
• development of dental diseases - caries, pulpitis.

Any of the listed factors indicates the need for consultation with a pediatric dentist - a full diagnosis and timely treatment.

Stages of decay of children's milk teeth

A child’s bad teeth almost always mean caries. The disease is distinguished by the type and depth of tissue damage. Dentists highlight:

1. Initial and superficial caries is the primary destruction of the enamel, manifested as white spots.
2. Visible carious lesions are medium and deep caries. Teeth rot quickly and stains develop into cavities. The child begins to experience pain. An unpleasant odor appears from the mouth.
3. Circular caries is the circular destruction of enamel and dentin near the gums. If left untreated, the tooth breaks and rots further to the root.

In particularly advanced situations, damage covers an increasingly larger volume of tissue, leading to serious pain and loss of the milk unit.

Bad teeth in a child: how to treat

Decay of baby teeth can be stopped. Especially if the parents quickly assessed the threat and brought the child to the children's dental clinic. Treatment options are different:

1. Remineralization of tooth enamel

   The doctor will apply a special gel to the baby teeth, which contains minerals to strengthen the teeth. Usually it is calcium, phosphorus, fluorine. The substances will restore the enamel structure at an early stage of destruction, but if the teeth are already rotting, the dentist will select a different treatment.

2. Sealing

   Cleaning out carious cavities and then installing a filling. The preparation method is selected according to the patient’s age. Modern dental clinics treat teeth without a drill - using the ICON method, as well as using classical methods.

3. Ozonation of teeth

   A method of disinfecting destroyed cavities followed by filling, when ozone is used to eliminate pathogenic microflora. The treatment has proven itself to work with children's rotten teeth, but is only suitable for moderate decay.

4. Laser therapy

   The disinfectant effect of a laser beam is an excellent way to disinfect a small cavity and remove bacterial microorganisms in the mouth of a young patient. Suitable for the treatment of moderate caries of primary teeth.

5. Removal

   A radical method of dealing with rotten teeth of a child. Used when it is impossible to carry out therapy and save teeth.

Rodikova Tatyana
When parents are interested in why their child has bad teeth, I first of all ask about nutrition. Almost all children today eat sweets, chips, and drink soda without restrictions. Of course, this negatively affects the teeth. The second common reason is heredity. Congenital diseases and medications are less likely to damage teeth.

Treatment

Dental treatment for children has its own characteristics:

• two-stage anesthesia - first the gums are numbed with a special gel or spray, and only then an anesthetic is injected, if necessary;
• ensuring a safe concentration of anesthetic;
• use of filling materials that are safe for children.

The algorithm for treating rotten teeth in children looks like this:

1. Removal of carious destroyed tissues using a drill or hand tools.
2. Rinsing the cavity with antiseptic solutions.
3. Filling a carious cavity with filling material.
4. Grinding and polishing the filling surface.

If a child has already developed permanent teeth and they are the ones that need treatment, most likely the doctor will install a standard light filling that will last for many years. Baby teeth are less resistant to abrasion; the dentist takes this into account when choosing a filling material. It should not be harder than natural enamel, otherwise, over time, the filling will protrude above the surface of the tooth.

Treatment of rotten teeth in children is often associated with problems if the child is afraid of the dentist. In this case, it will be difficult for the doctor to fully perform therapeutic procedures. Modern pediatric dentistry offers dental treatment under sedation. Through a special mask, the child is supplied with a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, which helps relieve anxiety and promotes relaxation of the body.

The use of general anesthesia is advisable if large-scale and long-term treatment is planned in one session.

Why treat baby teeth?

Rotten baby teeth do not always attract the attention of parents. Especially if the pathological processes are painless and do not bother the child. Adults think that when the bite changes, the bad teeth will disappear by themselves, and instead of rotten teeth, normal molars will grow. Dentists warn about the fallacy of such a misconception.

Rotten milk teeth are:

• damage or destruction of tooth germs - a high risk that the root units will grow sick or not appear at all;
• early loss of primary occlusion units - leads to displacement of existing teeth, the appearance of crowding, and the formation of a pathologically abnormal bite;
• an ugly smile, an unaesthetic appearance - the appearance of complexes due to appearance in young children, decreased contact with peers, uncertainty, isolation;
• deterioration of diction - rotten, breaking teeth interfere with the correct movements of the tongue during speech, leading to a lisp, burr;
• gradual spread of infection - damage not only to the surface of the teeth, but also to the pulp, development of pulpitis, the appearance of an abscess, as well as a tendency to ENT diseases and gastrointestinal diseases.

Features of bottle caries

Bottle caries in a child under 1 year of age is one of the most common types of carious lesions in primary teeth. It occurs when young children are bottle-fed before bed. As a result, food remains in the oral cavity, which bacteria actively process while the child sleeps.

There is a myth that bottle caries cannot occur if the child is fed natural products - milk, kefir, juice without sugar. But cariogenic bacteria feed not only on artificial, but also on “natural” sugars - lactose, fructose, so the “naturalness” of children’s products does not reduce the risk of developing bottle caries.

How to prepare your child for an orthodontic appointment

The initial appointment with an orthodontist takes place without any preparation. The child just needs to brush his teeth and eat beforehand. The latter is desirable, as it will help reduce salivation and facilitate the examination procedure. The child should also be told about the doctor’s specialization. In simple words, explain who this pediatric orthodontist is and what he treats.

An orthodontic examination is a painless procedure. It does not cause fear or discomfort in the baby, but it helps to identify deviations in the development of the dentition as early as possible.

Soldatenkova Alina

Typically, the removal of decayed milk teeth involves the extraction of several units at once. At Azabuka, we recommend performing this procedure under anesthesia or sedation. It is completely safe for the child, and most importantly, it does not leave traumatic, unpleasant memories in the child’s memory.

Other causes of enamel darkening in children

Rotten baby teeth in a child look different in the photo. Usually these are black spots, lumpy enamel, deformed crowns - unpleasant, ugly, even creepy. But an unaesthetic appearance does not always indicate rotting. Sometimes the reasons lie in other diagnoses or pathologies:

• black plaque;
• enamel hypoplasia;
• abnormalities in tooth shape.

Black plaque - stains on baby teeth

Dark spots on teeth are not always tooth decay. It could also be:

• Priestley's plaque - appears due to the increased activity of certain bacteria that secrete a black pigment. The defect is aesthetic, but dentists advise cleaning the enamel from plaque, since it can prevent caries or other dental diseases.
• Dark deposits due to taking iron supplements are an aesthetic problem, which professional cleaning helps to cope with.

Dark pigmentation is also caused by dysbiosis, lack of calcium, and taking antibiotics. Plaque is removed using gentle dental cleaning methods, returning the enamel to its natural whiteness.

Enamel hypoplasia and tooth shape abnormalities

Hypoplasia manifests itself as a change in the structure and color of the enamel and is not a carious lesion. Is it congenital or acquired? In the case of systemic hypoplasia, the shape of the dentition units may also be affected. Externally, the pathology manifests itself as:

• an altered line of the tooth edge is a natural deformation, and not due to rotten teeth;
• barrel-shaped crowns, cone-shaped - due to changes in the tooth at the dentin level;
• spots on the tooth surface of different sizes and shades - altered enamel thickness, insufficiently developed tissues.

For isolated manifestations, hypoplasia is not treated. In case of severe defects in baby teeth, the doctor will suggest remineralization and filling of the affected areas.

Stages of disease development

At the initial stage, the manifestations of the disease may be invisible: this is what makes the disease dangerous. When the defect becomes visible to the naked eye, bottle caries is already gaining strength and affects several teeth. Therefore, it is extremely important to know about the first signs in order to stop the development of the disease in time.

1. The initial stage is characterized by the appearance of white spots on the teeth. No painful sensations are observed. Many parents think that the stains are the result of an injury (for example, when a child chewed on a toy) and do not consult a doctor.
2. The superficial stage begins when the baby begins to experience pain when eating sweet and sour foods. The spots turn yellow or acquire a brownish tint (for this reason they can easily be confused with plaque).
3. During the middle stage, depressions with uneven edges appear on the tooth enamel (as a rule, the defect is located near the gums). The pain makes itself felt when eating cold or hot food, and sensitivity to sweets appears.
4. If the disease has reached a deep stage, dental changes become visible even to a layman. The affected tooth begins to resemble an apple core, and pain occurs when pressure is applied. If treatment is not started as soon as possible, the child may lose a tooth, which will affect the ease of chewing.

How to protect your child's teeth

Among the main preventive measures for the preservation of teeth in children of any age are:

• Maintaining oral hygiene to prevent plaque formation - timely care, selection of toothbrushes and toothpastes according to age, professional cleaning using gentle methods.
• Good nutrition - creating a varied menu that will include yoghurts, kefir, cheeses, vegetables and fruits.
• Selection of a vitamin complex according to age - independently or after consultation with a pediatrician.
• Timely visits to the dentist - pediatricians recommend coming for scheduled appointments every 4-6 months. This helps to identify caries and enamel destruction at an early stage and save teeth from serious problems.
• Fissure sealing - smoothing the lumpy surfaces of molars and premolars to reduce the risk of caries and rotting of distant units.

Rodikova Tatyana
Parents often have to explain: it doesn’t matter when the child’s bad teeth appeared - at 3 years old or at 7 years old - they need to be treated. Waiting until they fall out on their own is a big risk. Fortunately, in most cases the explanations work and we begin treatment. It's nice to see how a child's face changes when he sees beautiful, even, snow-white teeth in the mirror - instead of rotten and black ones.

It is also worth carefully monitoring the mechanical integrity of the teeth, since any crack or chip is a potential threat to the child’s dental health.

The health of children is the concern of parents. Poor heredity, diseases, premature birth indicate the need for careful monitoring of the condition of teeth - timely prevention and treatment. If everything is done correctly, then the child will not have rotten teeth, but only a joyful and beautiful smile.

How to prevent caries in one-year-old children: preventive measures

Simple preventive measures will help prevent the development of this pathology, which can lead to the loss of several baby teeth at once:

• Clean your baby's teeth and gums with a special fingertip immediately after eating.
• Do not bottle feed a 1 year old child.
• Dentists note that bottle caries can also develop in one-year-old breastfed children. What's more, breast milk contains more sugar than formula, so prolonged breastfeeding can be damaging to children's teeth.
• Brush your teeth immediately after teething. First, use a soft toothbrush with fluoride-free toothpaste; after two years, you can use baby toothpaste with fluoride.
• Brush your child's teeth or supervise this process until he is at least eight years old.
• Don’t give sweet drinks, it’s better to teach them to drink plain water and unsweetened tea.
• Do not feed your baby at night. At night, the production of saliva, which has a bactericidal effect and fights germs, decreases. If necessary, you can give your child clean water to drink at night.
• Do not share a spoon with your child or put his pacifier in his mouth to avoid the transmission of cariogenic bacteria.
• Check your teeth regularly. If you notice white spots on them, lines on the tooth enamel near the gums, be sure to contact your dentist.
• Visit your dentist regularly, even if there are no stains on your teeth.

Follow all preventive measures, and you can prevent caries in children under one year old and maintain oral health.