USA - Cavities On Rise Among Children

Cavities On Rise Among Children
POSTED: 4:03 pm EST January 4, 2008
The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired Jan. 4, 2008, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.
So, what's going on?
The University of Pittsburgh dental school has a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to find out.
A study by the National Center for Health Statistics shows cavities in baby teeth are now five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than environmental allergies.
Pitt will determine if the cause is nature or nurture or something less complicated.
Eight-year-old Catherine Peterson had tooth decay in four baby teeth and now a cavity in one permanent tooth. "You should brush your teeth twice a day," she said. "And you should always rinse with mouthwash." It's good advice, but dentists said it might not be enough to slow the rapid rise of cavities in kids.
"I think it's largely diet," said Dr. Paul Casamassimo of the Nationwide Children's Hospital. "We can blame the increase in sugar intake and the decrease in milk intake."
Casamassimo said the culprit is not just what children eat but what they drink. Soda and drinks labeled as juices are loaded with sugar and children are drinking more of them.
Even when children do drink water, it tends to be pure bottled water, so they don't get the fluoride they would get in tap water. "People are worried about what's in their water system, but in fact, fluoride is still considered the No. 1 preventative mechanism that we have against tooth decay," he said. Casamassimo said trading soda and juice for milk and tap water would help keep baby teeth strong. It would also give children good habits long after those baby teeth are gone. Pitt's dental study is the first to use a comprehensive approach to find out what's in our genes and in our environment that is causing tooth decay.