Drooling in children

Introduction Pediatric hooligans are more common in infants around the age of 1 and often occur before and after weaning. They are a condition characterized by more drooling. Generally, drooling is common from 6 months to 3 years old, and most of them are normal. In general, infants and young children under 1 year old are drooling because of their small oral volume, large saliva secretion, and stimulation of the gums. With the growth and development, the phenomenon of drooling around 1 year old will gradually disappear. If the baby is still drooling after the age of 2, it may be an abnormal phenomenon, such as cerebral palsy, congenital dementia.

Cause

When suffering from oral mucosal inflammation and neurological diseases such as nerve palsy, medullary palsy, and encephalitis sequelae, it is a pathological phenomenon due to excessive secretion of saliva or dysphagia. Because the baby's mouth is shallow, it will not control the saliva of the mouth. In the neonatal period, the salivary glands will not develop. After the fifth month, the salivation will increase. At six months, the teeth will erupt and the mechanical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve of the gums will occur. The secretion of saliva is also increased, resulting in a little more sputum, which is a physiological phenomenon and should not be regarded as morbid.

an examination

Related inspection

Trace element detection in human body

As the age increases, the depth of the mouth increases, the baby can swallow too much saliva, and the rogue naturally disappears. Whether it is a long-term or short-term drooling, it will cause erosion on both sides of the mouth. The skin of the lower jaw is often immersed in saliva, the skin is red, the eczema or epidermis is broken and ulcerated, and bacterial infection can be secondary. If the baby reaches the age of 2~3 years old, the saliva still keeps flowing. It is necessary to be careful that the baby may suffer from diseases such as mouth and throat mucosal inflammation, and need to go to the hospital for examination and treatment.

Children drooling at the same time crying uneasy, refused to eat, crying when eating, or accompanied by fever. At this time, you should carefully check the oral mucosa and the tip of the tongue and the cheeks for ulcers. Ulcers can cause pain and increased salivation, resulting in drooling. The ulcer should be treated as soon as possible.

Differential diagnosis

Pathological salivation: refers to the baby's abnormal drooling, often stomatitis, facial nerve paralysis, accompanied by small mouth skew, mental decline. In addition, salivary hyperfunction, spleen and stomach dysfunction, dysphagia, meningitis sequelae, etc. can cause pathological salivation.

Sleeping drooling: Some people drool when they sleep at night. Normal people can secrete a total of 1000-1500 ml of saliva per day. Even in the absence of food stimulation, 0.5 ml of saliva can be secreted per minute. Therefore, when people sleep, a small amount of saliva is continuously secreted to smooth the oral mucosa to protect it. tooth.

The material in this site is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis, or recommended treatments.