NZ - Limit sugary drinks, says dentist

ALDEN WILLIAMS/Fairfax NZ

SWEET TOOTH: Principal dental officer Dr Rob Beaglehole displays the amount of sugar in a 1.5-litre bottle of Coca-Cola.

Limit sugary drinks, says dentist
Health system could be brought 'to its knees'
TRACY NEAL

 City Council to take action on sugary drinks, in the hope it will reduce the daily count of rotten teeth he has to pull.

Dr Beaglehole, the principal dental officer with the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board, has asked the council to instigate a policy that would limit certain types of drinks sold at council venues and events.

He said that on the days he performed dental duties, among a myriad of other dental work he did each week he could extract up to 50 teeth.

He blamed the amount of rotten teeth on sugar, particularly sugar-sweetened drinks.

Dr Beaglehole arrived at the council chamber yesterday with a soft drink bottle empty of its contents, except for a mound of sugar cubes representing the 40 teaspoons of sugar he said was contained in the average 1.5-litre bottle of Coca-Cola.

To reinforce his message, he handed around a packet of rotten teeth, to audible gasps from councillors and some of the people in the public gallery.....