September 20th is the National Tooth Care Day. Among all age groups in Jiangsu Province, the 5-year-olds have the highest average number of carious teeth, reaching 4.05 per person.
According to the latest data of oral diseases in Jiangsu Province from 2015 to 2018, the dental caries rates of of all age groups in Jiangsu Province are not low.
The dental caries rate of 3-year-old children was 47.4%, with an average of 2.22 cavities per child. The caries rate of 4-year-old children was 60.2%, with an average of 2.94 cavities per child. The dental caries rate of 5-year-olds was 71.4%, with an average of 4.05 cavities per child.
To teenagers, the carious rate of the 12-year-olds was 33.8%; the 13-year-olds, 34.6%; the 14-year-olds, 36.9%; and the 15-year-olds, 34.9%. However, students aged 12-15 had less than one caries in average.
To older generations, the prevalence of caries was 59.1% among people aged 35-44; the number was 59.5% among people aged 55-64; and 74.7% among people aged 65-74.
Shen Jiaping, chief physician of Pediatric Oral Preventive Medicine Department of Jiangsu Dental Hospital, said that the prevalence of caries among 3-5-year-old babies was higher than that of the previous survey. Bacteria are the main cause of tooth decay, he said. In general, the more plaque in the mouth, the more dental caries children have. For example, some babies like to drink milk to sleep, but the fermented sugars in milk stay around for a very long time. If the child does not care about his oral hygiene, these fluids will provide the best medium for acid-producing bacteria.
The next reason might be eating too much sugary foods such as candy, chocolate, cookies and pastries. These sticky sweet foods are easy to stick on the tooth surface, providing adequate nutrition for dental plaque-causing bacteria, and creating "good conditions" for tooth decay. This is one of the important reasons for the increase of tooth decay in children.
Shen Jiaping warned that many parents have the misconception that babies' teeth will be replaced so that it won’t be a serious problem if the primary teeth have a few dental caries. In fact, the baby's teeth have the function of chewing, vocalizing, aesthetically pleasing and maintaining space for the permanent teeth to erupt. If the primary teeth are not well protected, the permanent teeth will be seriously affected, which will affect the development of the baby's jaw bone, further influencing his or her eating and speaking function.
（source:ourjiangsu.com）
