USA - Tooth decay in children and toddlers
Tooth decay in children and toddlers
Tooth decay is something you normally associate with adults, but it's happening more and more in young children, even toddlers.
Hundreds of local children are ending up in the operation room because of cavities that could have been prevented. Experts say its what can happen when parents don't take precautions.
A three year old is in the operating room at Strong Memorial Hospital, the result of tooth decay. Dr. Robert Berkowitz says, "It's unlikely we'll be able to fix them and we'll have to extract them."
Under anesthesia, a child is having 6 teeth pulled, four stainless steel crowns put in the lower jaw and three fillings in the upper jaw. The culprit, bacteria from sugar.
Dr. Berkowitz says, "Through baby bottles with Hawaiian Punch apple juice in sippy cups."
The Eastman Dental Center sees more than 300 of these kinds of cases a year. In Buffalo, 700 plus cases, and thousands state wide.
While decay is going down among school age children who have permanent teeth, that's not the case of younger children. Parents relying on sugary drinks over a long period of time create baby bottle tooth decay that usually isn't caught in time.
Dr. Robert Berkowitz says most parents don't know the Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies to see a dentist my age one, even before all their baby teeth are in. He says, "The decay process can be ongoing and do a risk assessment to pick out those kids that have that going on and intervene with aggressive preventive techniques so they don't end up on my doorstep like the child in the operating room."
5-year-old Maddy McManus has soft teeth. She had a tooth pulled at the Eastman Dental Clinic last week and has cavities. Her mom Danielle didn't know she was supposed to see a dentist early.
Danielle says, "I thought by 4 her teeth would be in I guess we were supposed to bring her in even before her teeth are all in."
Maddy is just happy her mouth is feeling better, and she's on her way to better oral health that will hopefully prevent her from a lifetime of dental problems.
Dentists say many parents think baby teeth aren't important because they fall out, so taking care of them isn't important. That's not the case. Baby teeth play an important role as place holders for permanent teeth and when removed too early, can lead to braces when permanent teeth do come in.
New York State is 73% fluoridated: NYSCOF
Tooth decay is something you normally associate with adults, but it's happening more and more in young children, even toddlers.
Hundreds of local children are ending up in the operation room because of cavities that could have been prevented. Experts say its what can happen when parents don't take precautions.
A three year old is in the operating room at Strong Memorial Hospital, the result of tooth decay. Dr. Robert Berkowitz says, "It's unlikely we'll be able to fix them and we'll have to extract them."
Under anesthesia, a child is having 6 teeth pulled, four stainless steel crowns put in the lower jaw and three fillings in the upper jaw. The culprit, bacteria from sugar.
Dr. Berkowitz says, "Through baby bottles with Hawaiian Punch apple juice in sippy cups."
The Eastman Dental Center sees more than 300 of these kinds of cases a year. In Buffalo, 700 plus cases, and thousands state wide.
While decay is going down among school age children who have permanent teeth, that's not the case of younger children. Parents relying on sugary drinks over a long period of time create baby bottle tooth decay that usually isn't caught in time.
Dr. Robert Berkowitz says most parents don't know the Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies to see a dentist my age one, even before all their baby teeth are in. He says, "The decay process can be ongoing and do a risk assessment to pick out those kids that have that going on and intervene with aggressive preventive techniques so they don't end up on my doorstep like the child in the operating room."
5-year-old Maddy McManus has soft teeth. She had a tooth pulled at the Eastman Dental Clinic last week and has cavities. Her mom Danielle didn't know she was supposed to see a dentist early.
Danielle says, "I thought by 4 her teeth would be in I guess we were supposed to bring her in even before her teeth are all in."
Maddy is just happy her mouth is feeling better, and she's on her way to better oral health that will hopefully prevent her from a lifetime of dental problems.
Dentists say many parents think baby teeth aren't important because they fall out, so taking care of them isn't important. That's not the case. Baby teeth play an important role as place holders for permanent teeth and when removed too early, can lead to braces when permanent teeth do come in.
New York State is 73% fluoridated: NYSCOF
posted by Bill at
10:11 AM
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