Research shows that if parents have tooth decay the chances are higher that their young ones will also have cavities. The dental plaque DNA of parents and children are nearly identical. Apart from physique and hereditary factors, if parents chew food before feeding it to their child, use the same eating utensils or kiss their child on the lips, it can also increase the risk of exposing a child to saliva that contains dental plaque streptococci. For the sake of your child’s dental health, parents are reminded to be wary about their own dental hygiene.
Taiwan Academy of Pediatric Dentistry president Tsai Yi-feng says that nearly 80 percent of Taiwanese children six years of age or younger have dental caries, which is significantly higher than Europe or America — 40 percent — and neighboring Asian countries — 57 percent. Tsai says that it is worth bearing in mind that more than 80 percent of Taiwanese adults also have tooth decay, which shows that tooth decay rates for children and adults are intimately related.
According to a study from Finland, a child’s chances of having tooth decay are greater if both parents also have cavities, and inversely lower if they do not. The main reason for this is that mutant dental plaque from parents’ dental caries contaminates their offspring’s teeth, damaging the child’s teeth and eventually causing cavities.
photo: Pan Hsing-hui, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者潘杏惠
Tsai says that in order to take care of a child’s teeth, parents can start with two points of approach — be sure to take care of all tooth decay issues during pregnancy, and after the child is born make sure the child gets in the habit of cleaning their teeth. It is best to brush after all three meals, before going to bed, and also use dental floss. After a baby’s teeth come in, you should be sure to clean the child’s teeth before going to bed, Tsai says, adding if a child’s teeth come in close together you should definitely use dental floss.
It is worth mentioning that different age groups should brush their teeth differently. Taiwan Dental Association chairman Huang Mao-shuan says that children between the ages of zero and six can brush back and forth horizontally and use dental floss as a supplement, while children between six and nine years of age should brush one tooth at a time, gradually learning how to use the Bass brushing technique. Parents can also help children by assisting them brush permanent teeth such as molars and incisors. From the age of nine into adulthood, Huang says that people should pay attention to dental hygeine.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
研究發現,父母如果蛀牙,幼兒的蛀牙率也會較高,且幼兒和父母嘴裡的牙菌斑DNA幾乎相同,除了體質、遺傳因素外,父母嚼食物餵小孩、與孩子使用共同餐具及親嘴等行為,也提高了唾液中蛀牙鏈球菌的暴露風險,提醒父母為了幼兒的牙齒健康,平時應注意做好自身的潔牙工作。
中華民國兒童牙醫學會秘書長蔡宜峰表示,台灣六歲以下的兒童蛀牙率逼近百分之八十,遠高於歐美國家的百分之四十及亞洲鄰近國家的五十七,值得注意的是,國內成年人的齲齒率亦高達八成,兒童與成人蛀牙的比率呈現正相關。
根據芬蘭一項研究發現,如果父母蛀牙,其幼兒的蛀牙率也會跟著升高,反之則隨之降低,主要因為父母蛀牙中的變形鏈球菌會傳染給幼兒,進而破壞幼兒的牙齒,形成蛀牙。
蔡宜峰建議,照顧幼兒的牙齒,父母可從兩階段著手,懷孕期間一定要先把自己的蛀牙問題處理好;孩子出生後,父母一定要養成潔牙的習慣,三餐飯後及睡前最好能刷牙,並使用牙線;幼兒長牙後,每天睡前一定要為孩子清潔牙齒,如果孩子的牙齒長得密,一定要用牙線清潔。
值得一提的是,不同年齡也應配合不同的刷牙方式,中華民國牙醫師公會全國聯合會口衛主委黃茂栓表示,零至六歲的兒童可以水平來回刷牙以及牙線輔助;六至九歲開始換牙,應逐漸學習貝氏刷牙法,家長可加強協助刷恆牙大臼齒與門齒的部分;至於九歲以上至成人則要注意潔牙。
(自由時報記者魏怡嘉、洪素卿)
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Drive-through (or drive-thru) restaurants provide people with the immense convenience of being able to purchase and pick up meals without needing to leave their vehicles. These restaurants have been around for decades, and their success has spawned a number of equally handy services. The drive-through concept originated with the drive-in restaurant, the first of which was established in the US in 1921. Patrons would order and eat the food that was delivered to their cars by workers called “carhops.” Ten years later, a drive-through service was introduced, but it was not until 1947 that the first exclusively drive-through restaurant opened its
On Tuesday last week, the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony. It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000km before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896. The pageantry at Olympia has been an essential part of every Olympics for nearly 90 years since the Games in Berlin. It’s meant to provide an ineluctable link between the modern event and the ancient Greek original on which it was initially modelled. Once
A: “Forbes” magazine just revealed Hollywood’s top 10 highest-paid stars of 2023. B: How much did those superstars make last year? A: Denzel Washington was at No. 10, having made US$24 million, which is about NT$771 million. B: That’s an astronomical figure to me. A: No. 9 to No. 6 were: Ben Affleck with US$38 million, Jason Statham with US$41 million, Leonardo DiCaprio with US$41 million, and Jennifer Aniston with US$42 million. A: 《富比世》最近公布了好萊塢去年的片酬排行榜。 B: 大明星的片酬到底有多高? A: 第10名是丹佐華盛頓、片酬2400萬美元,大約7.7億台幣。 B: 天啊這根本是天文數字! A: 第9到6名是︰班艾佛列克、3800萬美元,傑森史塔森、4100萬美元,李奧納多狄卡皮歐、4100萬美元,珍妮佛安妮斯頓、4200萬美元。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)