As soon as a child's teeth begin to erupt, various factors affect them, which causes the appearance of a yellowish plaque. This is an accumulation of food particles and cells of the mucous membrane that appears in all children, in which bacteria begin to develop. By removing such plaque in time, you can prevent dental diseases.
This situation is normal, but what if the plaque on children's teeth changes color and turns brown? Do I need to do something if brown dots are found on the crumbs and as evidenced by the brown spots that appear on the teeth of infants?
Causes
The appearance of brown plaque on children's teeth is often due to:
- Caries. This is the main cause of brown stains on children's teeth. Its development is facilitated by insufficiently high-quality brushing of teeth, metabolic disorders, poor nutrition of the child, heredity, chewing on one side, insufficient saliva, impaired bite and other factors. The initial stage of the disease is represented by imperceptible white spots, and when the color of the enamel turns brown, this indicates a deeper damage to the enamel, and sometimes dentin.
- Taking iron supplements. If a child has anemia and has been prescribed iron medications, then darkening of the teeth is most likely caused by just such treatment. As soon as the course of medication is completed, the color of the tooth enamel is normalized.
- Staining plaque with food or drink dyes. This situation is possible after drinking tea, beets, carrots, berries, cocoa and other products with pigments. Regular cleaning will help to eliminate the brown discoloration in this case.
In the next video, the pediatric dentist will talk about why children develop caries and how important it is to start treatment as early as possible.
Why can teeth turn yellow even in a one-year-old child?
If a child under 2 years old has brown spots on his teeth, then this may be a sign of bottle caries. This is the name of the form of this disease, which leads to prolonged feeding of babies from a bottle. Especially often this caries appears in babies who are given to drink at night not water, but something sweet - juice, compote, tea.
Since the enamel in one-year-old children is not yet very strong, and sweet food is a good environment for the development of bacteria, caries develops quite quickly. And therefore, when a brown plaque is found on the teeth of infants, it is important to go to the doctor with the baby as soon as possible.
Treatment
The problem of brown plaque requires a visit to the dental office. Such changes cannot be ignored, considering that milk teeth will soon change to permanent ones and it is not so important to treat them. Untreated caries will penetrate deeper, cause pain in the teeth and may even lead to tooth loss, as a result of which permanent teeth can become infected or grow crooked.
In the treatment of children, different methods are used depending on the spread of the infection. Sometimes it is enough just to treat enamel with brown spots with special solutions with silver or fluoride. This will prevent further tooth decay and allow you to wait for their physiological change. If the infection has penetrated deeply, the tooth will have to be drilled and filled.
Prevention
The following measures will help prevent the appearance of brown plaque:
- The beginning of cleaning children's teeth from the moment they erupt.
- Refusal to bottle feed after the first tooth appears.
- Refusal of sweet drinks at night.
- Daily brushing of teeth in the morning after waking up, as well as before going to bed.
- Include solid fruits and vegetables in your child's diet to naturally clean teeth while chewing.
- Humidification of the air in the child's room, which prevents the saliva from drying out.
- Timely treatment of rhinitis, excluding prolonged mouth breathing.
- Regular visits to the dentist at least 1-2 times a year.
