Are you worried about your kids smile ??
Does your child have discolored teeth ??
Do you want your child to have a beautiful smile ??
If the answer to all the above questions is a YES ! then this article is for you.
Most of the times parents are worried about the stains on the kids teeth, but the problems is they notice it a little late. When the stains have increased they start paying attention to it as it starts becoming physically more visible. But actually that should not have been the case.
Did you know the child’s first dental visit should be done by the Child’s First birthday??
Did you know we should start brushing our kid’s teeth when the first tooth erupts in the child’s mouth??
The awareness for dental and oral health is very blurred in our society, so the rate of ECC (Early Childhood Caries) is also very high. According to a survey, India has a prevalence of 51.9% of ECC.
Table of Contents
What is a Discolored Tooth?
The natural color of the permanent teeth varies from slightly yellow to white, not pure white. So any change in the natural color of teeth signifies discolored teeth, it might be more towards yellow, black or even sometimes a little green.
Kids mainly have black stains on the surface of their teeth which usually start on the gum line.Pulp. So, if the discoloration involves only the outer layer i.e the enamel then the stains are extrinsic. If the inner layers are also involved then the stains are intrinsic.
Causes of Discolored Teeth and their Prevention and Treatment
1. Chromogenic Bacteria
These are the colonies of bacteria which are mainly present in a child’s mouth which causes the discoloration of the child’s teeth.
These bacteria when once are not removed start depositing on the surface of the tooth and stain the tooth causing black or sometimes even orange stains. These can be very easily diagnosed but a professional opinion is always required.
The stains can be avoided if proper oral hygiene is maintained, and it is a parents or the care givers responsibility to brush the child’s teeth twice a day, as the children younger than the age of 7 lack the dexterity to brush their teeth themselves effectively.
These stains are extrinsic stains and can be removed professionally by the dentist, but can not be removed at home with simple brushing once the stains are formed.
The number of chromogenic bacteria keeps reducing in the child’s mouth as the child grows and the permanent teeth start erupting.
Prevention and Treatment:
- – Brushing twice a day is the best solution. The plaque formation starts within the 24 hours of brushing and slowly it starts to harden in approximately 42-72 hours and then is difficult to remove.
So, brushing twice a day will help in removing the plaque from the surface of the tooth and prevent the bacteria from depositing. Use a grain size of kids age appropriate fluoridated tooth paste and brush twice daily for a child less than 3 years of age and a pea size of the toothpaste after the child turns 3 years of age. - – Regular dental visits are important. Yes, you heard it right regular dental visits even for children are important and should be done once every 6 months. The dentist will remove the stains with a professional cleaning.
The stains will come back if a proper oral hygiene is not maintained.
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