An attentive mother will immediately notice white bumps or dots that suddenly appear in the child's mouth, especially in a baby. There are several reasons for such changes in the gums of a toddler. Some of them are harmless, but a white pimple on the gum or a white coating on its surface can also be a symptom of a disease that must be treated without fail. Therefore, parents should find out why a white dot may form on the baby's gum and what to do in such situations.
Possible reasons
Non-hazardous
Some causes of white spots or spots on the gums do not harm the child's health and often do not require any treatment. These include:
- Bon knots. They are represented by small round-shaped specks that do not disturb the child. By their structure, such nodules are the tissue of the dental plate or salivary glands. Since they resemble pearl beads, such nodules are popularly called pearl oysters. Gradually, they completely dissolve and disappear from the gums of the little one.
- Epstein's pearls. This is the name of the cysts on the palate formed from the epithelial tissue for their external resemblance to pearls. They do not need to be treated, since over time, these cystic formations disappear on their own.
- Natal teeth. This name was given to the teeth, which are found in a child immediately after birth. If the teeth "hatch" in the first month of life, they are called neonatal. In both cases, they look like small white bumps on the gums. A child with such teeth should be shown to the doctor, as they can be both baby teeth erupted too early, and additional teeth that can interfere with the eruption of regular teeth. In addition, such teeth are often too fragile and mobile, so they fall out earlier and pose a danger to the child (the crumb can choke), which will also be the reason for their removal.
- Insufficient cleaning of the child's mouth. If you do not take care of the little ones' teeth and gums daily and carefully enough, white plaque can collect on them. Dentists advise to start cleaning the mouth of the crumbs even before the first tooth appears, so that the remains of the mixture or breast milk do not remain on the gums and do not provoke their diseases.
Pathological
In some cases, a white spot or a white sore that appears on the gums is a sign of:
- Lack of calcium in the diet of the baby. If this mineral is not enough in mother's milk, the mother smokes, drinks alcohol or does not eat well, the child will miss it, which leads to problems with the gums and teeth.
- Herpes stomatitis. The cause of its appearance is the herpes virus, which causes the appearance of groups of white dots on the gums, which burst and leave in place areas of erosion with a white-yellow coating. Additional symptoms of the disease are fever, enlarged lymph nodes, refusal to eat.
- Aphthous stomatitis. The disease is provoked by various factors, including bacteria, lack of vitamins, mucosal trauma, reduced immunity, allergic reaction, stress, poor-quality filling and others. There is a slight swelling and redness on the gingival mucosa, after which a white spot or several white spots, called aphthae, appear. In addition, the child becomes whiny and capricious, he has increased salivation, bad breath, fever and poor appetite.
- Candidal stomatitis. With such an infection caused by the candida fungus, painful and itchy areas with a white coating are found on the gums of the crumbs. Also, with this disease, the gums may bleed, and an unpleasant odor appears from the child's mouth. If you try to remove the white plaque from the gums, a wound will remain under it, from which blood will begin to stand out.
- Pus-filled cysts. It is often caused by the penetration of bacteria into the tooth roots, for example, when caries complicates or when the dentist makes mistakes during dental treatment. A cyst forms under the tooth root, inside of which pus accumulates. Gradually, he begins to look for a way out, which looks like a red edematous area that appears on the gums with a white dot inside. If you do not show the baby to the dentist, pus will accumulate, after which the abscess on the gum will open and a fistula will appear in the mouth of the baby.
Somewhat less often, a white dot or several dots of white color act as a symptom of a wen (if it grows, then such a formation is removed) or a malignant neoplasm.
What to do
If you find a white speck or a lot of white dots on the gum of a baby, be sure to go to the doctor with your child. Only a specialist will determine if such white spots are dangerous and whether they are a symptom of inflammation that should be treated. You should not try to eliminate white spots or dots exclusively with folk remedies. Such treatment can only act as an addition to therapy prescribed by a pediatrician or dentist.
How to treat
The doctor's tactics when detecting white spots on a child's gums will depend on their cause.
With stomatitis
- If the cause of white spots on the gums is aphthous stomatitis, it is important to give the child a lot to drink, rinse the mouth, humidify the air in the room and change the baby's menu (give warm fresh liquid or puree food). The doctor may prescribe antihistamines, antibacterial, multivitamin, immunomodulatory, or antiviral medicines to the child. Local treatment of aft is carried out with analgesic gels and antiseptic solutions.
- If white spots appear due to herpes stomatitis, it is important to isolate the child from other children, since this disease is very contagious. The room in which the baby is located is constantly ventilated, and the dishes and the towel should be separate. For treatment, you should consult a doctor so that he prescribes an antiviral agent that is effective for such stomatitis. Additionally, in the treatment, gels with anesthetic effect and frequent rinses with herbal decoctions and antiseptics are used.
- If the changes in the gums are associated with a candidal infection, it is important to anesthetize the affected areas of the gums, change the nutrition of the crumbs (exclude hard, sour and hot foods) and rinse your mouth with a solution of soda. The doctor, when confirming this form of stomatitis, will prescribe antifungal drugs based on fluconazole or nystatin.
What is stomatitis, Dr. Komarovsky will tell in the next video.
With a cyst
When a pus-filled cyst appears next to a milk tooth, it is often removed, after which antibacterial agents and rinses are prescribed to the baby. If the tooth under which the cyst is located is permanent, the doctor will try to preserve it. He will dissect the cyst and remove part of the tooth root with it, after which he will place the filling.
Prevention
To prevent the appearance of white dots on the gums of the child, it is recommended:
- Pay attention to the baby's oral hygiene.
- Keep your child's dishes and toys clean.
- Balance your baby's diet and limit sweets, especially sugary drinks.
- Treat any dental diseases in time.
- Exclude contact with people with stomatitis.
- Avoid exposure to allergens on the baby, as well as burns and injuries to the gingival mucosa.
- Strengthen the immunity of the baby.
