Swollen gums in children are one of the most common oral health problems. When the gums are swollen, your little one may become more fussy and refuse to eat. However, you don't need to worry, because there are several ways you can do it at home to treat swollen gums in children.
It is important to always take care of your little one's oral and dental health because it plays an important role in supporting their growth and development. Not only that, good oral and dental care can also prevent your little one from getting various health problems, including swollen gums.
How to Overcome Swollen Gums in Children According to the Cause
Swollen gums in children can certainly interfere with daily activities and make children feel uncomfortable. How to deal with it varies, depending on the underlying cause. The following are some ways to treat swollen gums in children according to the cause:
Overcoming Swollen Gums due to Teething
Tooth growth in children generally begins to occur at the age of 6 months to 3 years. When experiencing teething, children can feel several complaints, including:
- Swollen gums
- Don't want to eat and drink
- Drooling a lot
- Hard to sleep
- Frequently biting and sucking things around him
- Fever
- Often cries and is more fussy
To deal with swollen gums in children due to teething, you can do various simple steps at home, such as:
- Gently rub your little one's inflamed gums with your finger or a cool gauze to reduce gum pain.
- Give teether or a toy that can be bitten. You can enter teether into the refrigerator first until teether become cold. This will reduce the itching of the teeth experienced by the Little One.
- If your little one is able to eat solid food or solid food, the mother can give pieces of fruit or other soft foods for the little one to bite. This can help reduce discomfort in your little one's gums.
Overcoming Swollen Gums due to Gingivitis
In addition to teething, swollen gums in children can also be caused by gingivitis. This condition can cause the child's gums to become swollen, red, and bleed easily.
The main cause of gingivitis that occurs in children is the lack of maintenance of dental and oral hygiene or the presence of wounds on the gums. In addition, gingivitis can also be caused by other conditions, such as poor nutrition and a weakened immune system.
If not treated promptly, this condition can lead to periodontitis. In fact, in severe cases, gingivitis can cause teeth to fall out or fall out on their own.
To overcome this, there are several treatment methods that dentists can do, namely cleaning tartar (scaling), root canal treatment of teeth, to administration of antibiotics and surgery if gingivitis is severe enough.
Overcoming Swollen Gums due to Tooth Abscess
A tooth abscess is a pus-filled lump on the tooth caused by a bacterial infection.
To relieve pain due to an abscess, you can give your child pain relievers, such as paracetamol. However, the use of this drug will only provide temporary pain relief. Make sure you give the medicine according to the doctor's recommendations or the prescribed dose.
In addition to giving pain relievers, there are several choices of types of treatment that can be carried out by dentists, namely giving antibiotics according to a doctor's prescription, extracting infected teeth, and root canal treatment.
Swollen gums in children can be prevented by always maintaining the health and hygiene of the child's mouth, teeth and gums. One way you can do is to invite your little one to brush their teeth at least twice a day on a regular basis.
In addition, mothers are also advised to take their little ones to have their teeth checked by the dentist every 6 months, so that the health of their teeth and mouth is always maintained.