Australia - Kids' tooth decay epidemic forces parents to pay thousands

Kids' tooth decay epidemic forces parents to pay thousands
By Kate Sikora and Neil Keene
Toddlers' teeth rotten before pre-school
Half of kids have untreated tooth decay
'It would be called an epidemic'
TODDLERS as young as 18 months are being forced to undergo thousands of dollars worth of dental work as tooth decay reaches "epidemic" proportions.
Dental experts said yesterday parents were spending up to $5000 on crowns for children whose teeth are deteriorating before they even hit preschool.
Australian Dental Association Oral Health Committee chairwoman Dr Philippa Sawyer said almost half of Australian children under four suffered untreated tooth decay.
"If that many children had some other sort of disease, and remember that tooth decay is a disease, then it would be called an epidemic," she said.
Dr Sawyer cited a recent Australian study which found 48 per cent of children suffered from untreated tooth decay, but only 10 per cent had seen a dentist.
ADA president Dr Neil Hewsen said the spread of sugary, acidic drinks and snacks aimed at children was largely to blame.
"Over the last 20 years or so the decay rate among children has been dropping but now we've had this blip upwards," he said.
A NSW Health spokeswoman said decay could begin before a child's first birthday.
"The issue is largely related to early feeding patterns and often the prolonged and extensive use of nursing bottles containing sugary drinks," she said.
Dr Hewsen said the situation had become so dire that shock advertising campaigns like those about smoking and skin cancer were needed to hammer the message home.
"We try to get through these prevention messages and for some people it works but for a lot of people it doesn't," he said.
NSW Health figures show by age five almost 40 per cent of children have untreated decay, while more than 30 per cent aged five to eight do not visit a dentist regularly.
Children start losing their first set of teeth from about the age of six, but Dr Hewsen said those baby teeth were critically important for long-term dental health.
Children who live in communities without fluoride in their tap water, Aboriginal children and children from lower socio-economic areas are much more likely to show early signs of decay, according to NSW Health.
"But 80 per cent of the decay is in 20 per cent of the children," Dr Sawyer said.
Newcastle mum Alison Lewis said she had learnt about the issue after a dental hygienist visited her daughter Stella's preschool.
"She came home telling us all how to brush our teeth properly," Ms Lewis said.
A recent dental check confirmed that Stella, 4, was clear of any signs of decay.
"Fifty per cent of children don't have tooth decay, so it's totally achievable for the other half not to either," Dr Sawyer said.

In Australia where 75% of the water supplies are fluoridated, "Half of kids have untreated tooth decay:NYSCOF