When I was a child, I always heard my mother say: Eat less sugar, if you eat too much, worms will eat your teeth!
It is obviously such a terrifying thing, but many children are not afraid at all. Because there is a one-size-fits-all solution—brushing your teeth well.
Ran goose, too young too naive, it is only when I grow up that I realize that I am happy a little early:
I have brushed my teeth well, but why do I still have cavities? !
Everyone eats candy, how come I’m the only one with a toothache? !
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As the old saying goes, Toothache is not a disease, it hurts terribly.
But in fact, toothache is really a disease – clinically known as “caries”, which is often referred to as dental caries, tooth decay , worm teeth.
Why do tooth decay occur?
The currently recognized etiology of dental caries is the quadruple factor theory, which are bacteria, oral environment (food and saliva), host, and time [1].
The process is simple: bacteria attach to the tooth with the help of plaque, acid is produced through food, acid builds up on the tooth, and tooth minerals begin to dissolve (demineralization)< /strong>, which can lead to tooth decay for a period of time.
The actual situation and the factors involved are more complex, and avoiding sugar and brushing your teeth may not be enough to avoid tooth decay.
However, the basic work of brushing our teeth in the morning and evening still has to be done first. After all, for many people, there is a problem of knowing a blow-
Really good brushing, are you sure?
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The currently accepted and recommended brushing method is Papanic brushing (horizontal flutter brushing).
The characteristic is that the toothbrush starts at a 45-degree angle touching both the teeth and gum, and then a small ( (no more than 2 teeth), vibrate horizontally for 8 to 10 times, and then brush along the tooth surface (upper teeth down, lower teeth up) [2].
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After brushing the outside of the teeth group by group, don’t forget the chewing surface and inside of the teeth. Make sure to the whole process. >2 minutes or more, morning and evening.
In addition, don’t forget the tongue and interdental.
We recommend that you choose a toothbrush with a smaller head, which is convenient for cleaning the edges and corners of your teeth. Make good use of dental/water flossing, they won’t make the gap between your teeth bigger, but they can help you clean the places that the toothbrush can’t take care of~
What? You said that you brushed like this, and you weren’t lazy at all.
Image source: giphy.com
Then—if you still have cavities, you may have to find the answer from the following reasons.
Causes of tooth decay
Toothpaste is wrong
Although there are many types of toothpastes, anti-allergic, whitening… but if the oral cavity itself is not in good condition, or if you have tooth decay before, then you should choose fluoride toothpaste strong>.
Fluoride can effectively delay demineralization of teeth, and the use of fluoride toothpaste is also a recognized means of preventing dental caries [2,3].
Like us adults, toothpaste with 0.1% (1000 ppm) fluoride concentration is recommended.
It’s also very convenient to buy, you don’t have to guess. Because the state stipulates that the fluoride content in fluoride toothpaste needs to be 500-1500 ppm (500-1100 ppm for children), and the fluoride content is required to be marked on the package, and the children’s fluoride toothpaste should also be marked with a warning Text – when you buy it, remember to take a look and it will be OK.
Some may be concerned about the safety of fluoride toothpaste for children. In fact, it is not a big problem, just pay attention to the dosage of different age groups.
Image source: [3]
Poor teeth & low salivation
According to statistics, brushing with fluoride toothpaste twice a day can prevent 23-24% of dental caries [2]. But there are so many cavities that slip through the net, and both the condition of the teeth and the oral environment are inseparable.
For example, some people have extremely crowded teeth, wear orthodontic appliances, have wisdom teeth that are not exposed…all of which are prone to accumulation of food residues in the gaps.
At this time, it is recommended that everyone should have their teeth extracted and corrected. If you really don’t want to move your teeth, you must pay attention to having an oral examination every six months to a year.
Insufficient saliva secretion and dry mouth are also serious problems. Unexpectedly, the saliva in our mouth can help to disperse and inhibit dental plaque, and can also play a role in neutralizing and antacid.
Therefore, dry mouth due to age in the elderly, and insufficient salivation caused by salivary gland damage, medication, radiation therapy, etc., are also important risk factors for dental caries.
If the dry mouth is caused by a disease, you must see a doctor in time to confirm the cause and improve the treatment; if no problem is found, you can also try chewing some sugar-free chewing gum to stimulate saliva secretion and drink plenty of water to maintain Mouth moist.
There is one more reason to persuade people to drink more hot water ╮(╯▽╰)╭.
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Unconsciously eating a lot of “invisible candy”
Some people think that as long as they don’t like hard candy, soft candy lollipops, and don’t add white sugar to rice porridge, that means “no sugar”.
Naive this is not.
Nowadays, the beverages we have at hand are less sugar-free, and not many use sugar substitutes. Most of them are directly added with sugar for good taste, such as flavored coffee, flavored milk drinks, Juice blah blah, just look at the ingredients list with sugar.
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Even if you say you don’t like beverages, drinking honey water occasionally and eating carbohydrates such as refined starches will lead to an increase in the intake of “sugar”. In particular, sticky foods such as rice balls and rice cakes are more likely to stick to the teeth and not fall off, which is more conducive to the production of acid by bacteria.
Also, some babies have the habit of drinking milk at night, and don’t ignore the lactose in it, which is also an “accomplice” of dental caries.
So don’t be lazy, as long as you eat, be sure to brush your teeth again before bed!