I am the Third Prince of Nezha, and the "Qiankun Circle" protects my little teeth

After 5 years, Nezha 2 is finally released. When everyone was in tears because of the line "If there is no road ahead, I will make one!", did you find that Nezha, who said "My fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of God", also had dental problems, such as premature loss of deciduous teeth. Although this image is cute, the harm is also there. Premature loss of deciduous teeth not only affects the space and order of permanent teeth eruption, but also causes occlusion disorder, reduced chewing efficiency, and leads to problems such as jaw dysplasia and psychological impact.

In our daily life, there are also many children who lose their deciduous teeth prematurely due to various reasons. So what should we do? At this time, we need to issue the slogan "Urgent as the law" and call for help from "Qiankunquan".

Image source: "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes" and "Nezha: The Devil Child Conquers the Dragon King"

1. What is the "Qiankun Circle" - gap maintainer

It refers to an oral device that maintains normal physiological space and prevents adjacent teeth from tilting toward the lost part and the opposing teeth from elongating when children lose their teeth prematurely due to severe periapical disease, trauma, etc.

Image source: Case excerpts from the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Department of Dental Prevention, Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University

2. The role of the “Qiankun Circle”

1. Prevent tooth displacement, maintain the mesial, distal and vertical gaps of prematurely lost teeth in the dentition, help permanent teeth grow in the correct position, avoid ectopic eruption, crowding or impaction of permanent teeth due to smaller or changed gaps, reduce the incidence of malocclusion, and maintain neat tooth arrangement.

2. Maintain normal occlusion: Space maintainers help maintain a normal occlusion between the upper and lower teeth, prevent occlusal disorders, facilitate the normal function of chewing, reduce problems such as temporomandibular joint disorders caused by abnormal occlusion, and promote jaw development.

3. Notes:

1. Rinse your mouth with water after wearing it for half an hour, and eat after 2 hours. You may feel uncomfortable or feel a foreign body when wearing it for the first time, and it usually takes 1-2 weeks to adapt. Try to avoid eating hard and sticky foods during wearing, such as beef jerky, rice cakes, nougat, etc., to prevent the retainer from falling off or being damaged.

2. Maintain good oral hygiene to avoid tooth decay or gingivitis caused by accumulation of food debris, and use a toothbrush and dental floss to clean your teeth and retainer every day.

3. Have regular checkups every 3-6 months so that the doctor can check the retention of the retainer, the health of adjacent teeth, and the progress of permanent tooth eruption to prevent children's permanent teeth from being hindered by the space maintainer. If the space maintainer falls off or shifts, the child should come to the hospital for treatment immediately.

Image source: Hand-painted by Ni Peishan

□Ni Peishan and Yan Sisi, nurses in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Department of Dental Prevention, Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University