Contrary to popular belief, in children, the main dental diseases are associated with gums, and not with teeth. And this is quite logical, since a child’s milk teeth are completely replaced with time, but here any person’s gums remain forever. One of the most common diseases of the gums is gingivitis - inflammation of the membranes of the gums.
Content
Gingivitis: a general description of the disease
Changes and damage caused by gingivitis in the tissues of the oral cavity are reversible. The most important thing for parents of a baby is time to identify this problem and prevent the flow of the disease, as well as timely start treatment. A characteristic feature of the disease is that the inflammatory process in gingivitis does not affect the connection of the gums with the tooth, the periosteum, as well as the dental tissue itself.
Causes of disease
The main cause of gingivitis in a child is almost always the inadequate prevention of diseases and oral hygiene.
Often, adults make a mistake by teaching their children to brush their teeth, but they do not control this process later. The child, not realizing the need for oral hygiene, sometimes turns the procedure of brushing your teeth into an exciting but useless game. As a result, plaque forms on the gums and teeth.
This plaque on the teeth of a child is an excellent food base for various bacteria, including pathogens. When multiplying, a colony of microorganisms creates an appropriate response in the body - inflammation appears.
Although inflammation is considered to be a normal reaction of an organism that fights negative effects, this struggle does not go away without a trace - the body begins to expend internal reserves, as a result of this, the inflamed tissues gradually begin to collapse.
In this case, the child's disease gingivitis Such factors may contribute:
- injury to the mucous membrane of the gums due to improper bite, burn hot food, chewing solid food;
- poor diet, lack of important vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C;
- hereditary disposition;
- diabetes;
- viral diseases.
Features of gingivitis
This disease is very common in adolescence and childhood. The reason for this is the high susceptibility of periodontal in babies.
Parodont - "Design" of different fabricswhich holds the tooth and supplies it with the required elements with the help of an extensive network of blood vessels.
The greatest chances of getting gingivitis are in middle school age, at which time the natural hormonal explosion of a child is superimposed on the rapid growth of periodontal tissues.
Gingivitis also often appears in very young children, even by age less than a year. This is quite logical, since one of the main factors is the appearance of gingivitis - gum injuries, which happens during teething. And to such natural injuries, we must also add weakness of the immune system and insufficient saturation of the baby’s oral cavity with the necessary microflora.
In some cases, gingivitis can be observed even in infants.Adults should immediately see a pediatrician if they detect any suspicious signs at such a tender age.
Another risk factor is short lip bridlewhich interferes with normal gum hygiene and may contribute to the accumulation of food pieces. Most often, the bridle of the lip is stretched by itself, however, when this did not happen before the baby is 2 years old, surgery is performed as directed by the doctor.
Symptoms of gingivitis
In order to prevent the development of the disease and start timely treatment, it is necessary to timely and correctly recognize the symptoms of the disease. Symptoms of gingivitis depend directly on the stage at which the disease occurs:
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Marginal - sluggish chronic type of catarrhal gingivitis. Has mild symptoms. Acute pain in this type of disease occurs infrequently, it may simply be severe itching, because of this, the child often passes unnoticed disease - it is simply confused with normal itching during teething. - Catarrhal is the most common and lightest type of disease. This acute stage is characterized by the appearance of characteristic dental deposits, swelling and redness of the gum edge, burning, itching. There is an unpleasant smell from the mouth. An older child may complain of an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
- Hyperplastic usually appears during the "hormonal explosions", which is typical for adolescents. This type of disease is characterized by a significant inflammation of the protrusions of the gums between the teeth - the periodontal papillae. Swelling, the nipples create sinuses near the base of the tooth, which are often filled with smelling pus. And the gums begin to bleed.
- Atrophic - the most severe stage of inflammation, the bases of the teeth are greatly exposed, the gum tissue becomes very thin. The separation of pus and bleeding is abundant, strong pains need medication.
- Desquamative characterized by significant detachment and redness of the integument of the gums.
- Ulcer-necrotic - severe stage of the disease. The child begins to experience burning and severe pain, bleeding ulcers appear near the base of the teeth. Symptoms of general malaise may be manifested - fever, nausea, weakness.
- Hypertrophic is a chronic and severe form of hyperplastic gingivitis. Puffiness of the periodontal papillae with this disease is so strongly pronounced that the crown of the tooth is almost completely hidden in the swollen gum.
If you do not carry out timely treatment, the child gingivitis goes at the stage of deep parodentium - it is fraught with the loss of a large number of teeth.
How is gingivitis treated?
Early treatment
Gingivitis at the first, not yet neglected stages (marginal and catarrhal gingivitis) can be cured at home.
Treatment must begin with relieving the baby’s condition. Get rid of pain can help anesthetics, among which are different lidocaine-based products. For the treatment of a child, it is advised to use Calgel lidocaine-containing agent. This gel product is approved for use even for very young children up to one year. The tool can also be used during teething in infants.
The use of bactericidal conditioners and ointments helps to get rid of pain and relieve the inflammatory process for older children, for example:
- Eludril;
- Propsol;
- Romazulan;
- Chlorhexidine.
Also very popular and frequently used drug is Holisal gel. This tool, in addition to anti-inflammatory action, has a bactericidal effect. Anyway, before using vitamin medicines and drugs, especially during the treatment of gingivitis in an infant, you should consult a dentist.
You also need to pay attention to the nutrition of the child: the food in this disease should not be very salty or sour, hot or cold. The main task at this time is to minimize the effect of irritants on the oral cavity.
After reducing pain and relieving inflammation, treatment is carried out aimed at removing pathogens. For this, antibiotics are often used, for example, Erythromycin, Metronidzol, Amoxicillin.
After using antibiotic remedies, recovery therapy will certainly include course of probiotic preparations, they allow you to replenish the beneficial microflora and restore the natural bacterial background.
Treatment of hypertrophic and hyperplastic gingivitis
Severe stages are treated only in medical institutions. Treatment of hyperplastic and hypertrophic diseases, as well as their severe forms, in addition to antibacterial measures and anti-inflammatory therapy, sometimes includes removal of gum tissue from the gums. Why use these methods:
-
Cauterizing shock. It makes it possible to stop the increase in swelling of the surface, and also stops the bleeding. Cauterization is made by diathermocoagulation - action on the tissue current at an increased frequency. The process is characterized by pain and is performed under general anesthesia, therefore it is not suitable for children under 5 years old. - Freezing. Injections of sclerosing agents are introduced into the gum: calcium chloride or dextrose solution. Injections of these drugs cause the termination of the pathological enlargement of tissues and hardening of the periodontal papillae.
- Truncation of the gums. It is used in very severe cases, if the treatment of the baby’s oral cavity without surgical intervention is no longer possible. The operation is performed under general anesthesia and usually occurs without complications. Gingivectomy will certainly be combined with cauterization or freezing of the gums, otherwise the pathological growth may continue, and after a certain time the truncation will have to be done anew.
- Chemical moxibustion. Ether is applied to the dry surface of the skin with a solution of sulfuric acid.
Treatment of atrophic and ulcerative necrotic gingivitis
The child who suffers from atrophic or ulcerative gingivitis, the faster the doctor gets, the better. At home, the child needs organize rest and bed rest, because there may be general malaise with a significant increase in temperature.
With severe bleeding of the gums, if the disease reaches the atrophic or ulcerative stage, it is not recommended to use hard toothbrushes. For very difficult stages, you will need to completely abandon the cleaning of teeth, limiting yourself only with rinsing with special compositions.
Anti-inflammatory and antiviral treatment for these stages seems to be with the same treatment as catarrhal and marginal gingivitis. Bleeding can be stopped with a peroxide spot treatment.
Dead tissue around ulcers can be removed surgically or conservatively. by necrolysis - non-surgical resorption. Necrolysis of dead tissue is carried out by applying sodium chloride to the affected parts.
After removing the inflammatory process and healing the wounds, the child may need gingivoplasty - restoring the lost parts of the gums by transferring pieces of tissue from other parts of the periodontium.
Traditional methods of treatment
An excellent help during the treatment of gingivitis is an appeal to homeopathy and folk methods. In order to prevent the strengthening of teeth and diseases of the oral cavity, broths of sage, oak bark, motherwort, and St. John's wort have long been used.
Important: For the treatment of inflammation in children, the use of solutions based on alcohol and iodine is prohibited.
Folk ways:
-
3-4 gr. Mummy diluted in a cup of water, use for rinsing the mouth at night.Another treatment option with mumie: the same amount diluted in a cup of nonfat kefir. Hold in mouth for several minutes, then swallow. - The composition of eucalyptus and sage leaves in the same parts is poured boiling water in a ratio of 1 teaspoon of eucalyptus and sage per cup of boiling water. Let it stand for a day and decant. Use a spoon before eating.
- Hypericum oil The composition can be prepared independently from the dry leaves of the plant, they can be purchased at the pharmacy. A large spoonful of crushed leaves is poured on the floor with a cup of vegetable oil and left overnight. Gums should be oiled three times a day.
Prevention
The main means of preventing gingivitis, as well as other dental problems - oral hygiene. From childhood tame your child to brush your teeth for about 12-17 minutes, you should certainly pay attention to the inner surface of the teeth. Buy a child preventive or medical toothpaste, make sure that the baby properly brushed his teeth. To remove stubborn plaque on the teeth, you can use a brush with a hard pile.
Teach your child to use dental floss to remove pieces of food from the interdental space. But keep in mind that dental floss can also injure the gum, if it is used incorrectly, therefore it is undesirable to use dental floss for children under 3 years of age.
To date, dentistry does not approve the use of toothpicks for the care of teeth, because of their use danger of injuring the gums, and at the same time bring the infection. It is best to choose a dental floss. If the baby has already had a tartar, then it means that you cannot do without a trip to the dentist, he will be able to remove tartar by the most gentle method. These simple rules can help prevent gingivitis and other periodontal diseases, as well as the undesirable effects of these diseases on the teeth.
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