Prevention of caries in children is veryan important task for all parents without exception. Unfortunately, in recent years, the problem of caries in children is very acute - it occurs even in the smallest children, who have not reached the age of two. In fact, the teeth, barely erupting, immediately begin to deteriorate. And often it is parents who are to blame for the fact that caries begin to develop in the crumbs. After all, parents should carefully monitor the teeth of children and teach them the basics of dental care. And in order to successfully cope with this task, parents should know all the nuances concerning child caries and its prevention.
Causes of caries
Caries is exactly the same disease asall other diseases. So, and arise from scratch, it will not - you need those or other provoking factors. And you just need to know these reasons, because after eliminating them, you significantly reduce the risk of caries development:
- Presence of sick teeth. In the event that there is at least one sick tooth in the mouth, all the rest begin to deteriorate with frightening rapidity. Therefore, the child should be regularly examined by a dentist, and if there are carious teeth immediately treat them to protect the neighboring ones.
- Plaque and stone. No matter how amazing it may seem, even in children it's not like dental plaque, but even tartar is a common occurrence. And after all, plaque, and even more so tartar is an excellent environment for the reproduction of bacteria, which eventually lead to the development of caries.
- Malnutrition and poor drinking water. As everyone knows, dental health simply needs fluoride, calcium and vitamin D. However, very many parents completely forget about this important fact, buying a child various sweets, and the useful products are left without due attention. Be sure to review your child's diet, discuss it with a pediatrician.
- Violation of enamel. In the event that a child consumes excessively hot or cold food, especially by alternating them, the risk of developing microscopic injuries of tooth enamel is very high. Therefore, do not let the child drink, for example, soup with cold milk. Unfortunately, such a phenomenon occurs very often. In addition, these enamel lesions are often caused by mechanical damage, for example, if the child gnaws nuts. This must also be avoided.
- Genetic predisposition. Often, dentists note that most caries develops in those children whose parents also have bad teeth. In this case, the parents' attention to the state of their child's teeth, as they spoil much faster.
- General health of the child. In the event that the general condition of the child's body leaves much to be desired - frequent catarrhal diseases, allergic diseases, chronic tonsillitis, neurological diseases, rickets. All these diseases often provoke caries development - the chances are about three times higher.
Strictly speaking, such a disease as caries,simply does not exist. There is a carious disease - a pathological condition of the whole organism, which makes itself felt, affecting the tooth tissue. This is confirmed not only by the observations of dentists, but also by a number of studies that clearly indicate that caries develops under the influence of many secondary factors.
Anatomical features of children's teeth
Children have additional provocative developmentcaries factor is the anatomical features of the structure of the teeth. Milk teeth, especially chewing, almost always have special grooves. And in these grooves, plaque easily accumulates, which inevitably comes into direct contact with the exposed dentin. Of course, this is the root cause of caries development. On inspection at the stomatologist this feature is revealed at once. In addition, in the first few years after the milk teeth erupt, their enamel is very, very weak and fragile. And only after about two years the tooth enamel, due to the gradual saturation with mineral substances, such as fluoride and calcium, strengthens and acquires strength. And during this time interval the probability of caries development, especially in the presence of provoking factors, is very, very high. In addition, almost all children have very dense teeth that are very dense - there are practically no dental spaces. Of course, in such a case it is very, very difficult to properly clean the teeth with a toothbrush. And the remnants of dental plaque begin to provoke the development of the carious process. In the same case, if a child has certain dental devices in his mouth, for example, to equalize the dentition, the risk of caries is rapidly increasing. Even with healthy teeth, not all children are able to properly, carefully, care for their teeth. And what can we say about such cases? Parents should carefully monitor the process of brushing their teeth, in order to carefully eliminate plaque. 
The process of caries development
At the very beginning of its development, at its firststages, caries development proceeds absolutely without any signs, and absolutely painlessly. The child does not complain about anything, and parents do not see any reason to contact a dentist. However, this harmlessness is very, very deceptive - if the disease does not begin to be treated immediately after the onset of its development, it will progress quickly enough. The child will begin to develop painful feelings, which are sometimes so painful that a child can start crying inconsolably, stop sleeping at night. The tooth can collapse to such an extent that it will require very complicated treatment, and sometimes even removal. Agree, not very bright prospect, because even adult people visits to the dentist are not considered a number of favorite diseases. A child is often very difficult to persuade even to open his mouth. It may be necessary to resort to the treatment of teeth under general anesthesia. Yes, and the general health of the child can significantly deteriorate. And this is quite understandable - teeth affected by caries are the strongest source of chronic infection in the child's body. And because of these existing foci of infection, the child often develops a number of very different diseases - ENT diseases - organs, digestive tract and many other diseases. Doctors - pediatricians say that very often painful children stop hurting after the oral cavity is put in order, eliminating caries.
"Bottle" caries
Speaking about caries, you can not ignore thisa phenomenon that dentists have been called "bottle" caries. Numerous studies conducted by pediatricians and pediatric dentists have officially confirmed the fact that too long feeding a child from a bottle - more than one year - very often leads to the fact that a child develops caries very early. And tooth decay is very, very sharp. The appearance of the teeth of such children is very specific. The first frontal teeth suffer the most - they are affected by caries. After that, tooth decay extends to the upper and lower molars, and the lower incisors are most often intact. From the conversation between the dentist and the parents, it is common to find out the detail for all the children - a child over one year of age was laid down to sleep, after giving him a bottle with some hydrocarbon containing drinks, for example, with milk. The child falls asleep, and the milk continues to remain on the upper teeth of the crumbs. But carbohydrates are an excellent nutrient medium for pathogenic microorganisms, which also provoke the development of caries. And, in addition, the sleeping child at times reduces the intensity of salivation, which means that the drink will be in contact with the tooth enamel for a long time, which is an additional factor provoking the development of caries. Especially it concerns milk - both mother's and cow's milk. They contain a huge amount of lactose, which very intensely provokes the development of caries, especially if you keep milk in the mouth for a very long time. In order to prevent the development of "bottle" caries at such a young age, parents should regularly bring the child to the dentist for preventive examinations. That is why doctors - pediatricians insist that the first preventive examination of the dentist is performed in a year, and then every six months. Such measures will make it possible to detect caries at the very beginning of development, which will greatly facilitate its treatment. 
Treatment of dental caries in children
Unfortunately, not always the mostcarefully observed preventive measures are able to protect the child from the development of caries. So, it is necessary to begin the treatment of teeth as soon as possible in order to prevent its wide distribution. However, complex treatment is very important here. The very first thing that needs to be done is to sanitize the child's oral cavity or, more simply, to cure all the carious surfaces of the teeth. Parents should very carefully approach the issue of choosing a dentist for their child. Not only should a doctor be highly qualified to save all the baby's teeth, he must have at least elementary knowledge of child psychology. This is necessary for the doctor to establish emotional contact with his small patient. Otherwise, every visit to a dentist and dental treatment will turn into a real torture for all concerned parties - for the child, for the dentist, for the parents. And it is from these very first visits of dentists that depends on how the further relationship of the child with these difficult doctors will develop. The second stage of caries treatment is the revision of the child's diet. First, all foods that contain too much carbohydrate (usually sweets) should be given to the child in limited quantities, making sure that after the meal the child at least rinses his mouth. As already mentioned above, a very negative effect on the condition of teeth is caused by improper food, in which calcium and fluorine are not enough. Of course, the diet should be reviewed, but if the child is already faced with caries, simple food will not be able to do. Therefore, during this period, dentists recommend giving the child special vitamin and mineral complexes that contain a large amount of calcium and phosphorus. Modern pharmacology offers parents a huge number of a variety of drugs, but do not buy them yourself. And so it is much more reasonable to choose the most suitable for your child vitamin - mineral complex, or helped by a doctor - a pediatrician, or a doctor - dentist. Do not forget also about vitamins C and D. In especially severe cases, a dentist can prescribe fluoride intake to a child. These drugs and actually have a surprisingly positive effect on the state of tooth enamel. However, in no case is the inadmissible independent use of this group of drugs - in young children, the accumulation of excessive fluoride in the body is possible. Therefore, fluoride treatment is possible only under the strict supervision of a physician.
To summarize, I would like to repeat those basics on which the prevention of dental caries in children is based:
- Regular visit to a pediatric dentist. And the first visit should be at one-year-old age of the baby, then - every six months. This measure will allow to notice caries at the very first stages of its development.
- General health of the child. Remember that weak and painful children, with low immunity, are much more likely to face carious lesions of carious teeth.
- Careful dental hygiene. Remember that cleaning teeth from plaque is one of the main measures to prevent the development of caries. Often parents ask about when it's time to start brushing your child's teeth. Doctors - dentists say that it is necessary to do this immediately after the baby's first teeth are cut through.
- The intake of vitamin and mineral complexes, which have a strengthening effect on tooth enamel.
To the great regret, often many parentsmake the same very common mistake - do not lead a child to the dentist at all, of course, if the baby does not complain of pain. This is their careless attitude, they explain that the baby's teeth will fall very soon anyway, and therefore, nothing to torment the child with dental treatment. However, doctors - dentists warn parents - because of the carious milk teeth in the oral cavity entails the defeat of newly erupted constants. And this means that the child will get problems with the teeth for the rest of his life. And modern methods of prevention of caries in children with a very high probability can avoid all these problems. We advise you to read:
