新奇事件簿 婴儿牙齿填充纯属浪费时间

It may be a waste of time sending children to the dentist to have fillings. The BBC reports on the opinion of 50 British dentists who attended a dental conference. They suggested it could be unnecessary to fill baby teeth. Many of the dentists said many young children go to the dentist when they don’t have to. This could be good news for kids who hate the dentist. Many children develop a fear of dentists because of fillings, injections and the sound of the drill. This can become a phobia and continue into adulthood¹. The BBC says: “Experts already know there is wide variation in care, which means that a young child with signs of tooth decay could have no treatment, a filling or the tooth pulled out depending on which dentist they attend.”

把婴儿送去牙医那里填充牙齿可能纯属浪费时间。BBC记者对参加牙科会议的50名牙医的观点做了报告。他们认为婴儿的牙齿没必要填充。许多牙医表示，很多儿童去看牙医根本就没必要。对于讨厌牙医的孩子来说，这是个好消息。许多儿童因为填充物，注射和电钻的声音而害怕牙医。这会形成恐惧情绪，延续到成年。BBC表示：“专家已经知道治疗方式多种多样，这意味着有龋齿的幼童可以不进行治疗，填充，或者拔牙，这根据牙医的建议而定。”

Dental decay is one of the most common childhood health problems. As soon as a baby's first teeth appear, they are at risk of decay. From as young as six months, a baby tooth could get “baby bottle decay”. Later on there are early childhood cavities. The American Dental Association says these can affect speech, communication, nutrition and quality of life. They say the good news is that decay is preventable. A dental expert, Dr Gail Topping, is currently researching what the best treatment is. She will look into fillings, improved dental hygiene², and the child eating fewer sugary things. She said dentists currently use their own judgment³ to decide what’s best for a child’s decayed teeth on a case-by-case basis.

龋齿是最常见的儿童健康问题。从婴儿长出第一颗牙齿开始，就有龋齿的危险。从六个月开始，婴儿的牙齿就会出现“奶瓶龋”。随后就会出现儿童早期龋齿。美国牙科学会表示，这会影响语言，交流，营养和生活质量。他们说，好消息是，龋齿是可以预防的。牙科专家Gail Topping现在正调查最佳治疗方案。她将查看填料，改善牙齿卫生，以及儿童少吃甜食方面。她表示，牙医现在用自己的判断方式来确定每一个儿童龋齿的最佳治疗方法。

1 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

2 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

3 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。