NZ - One in three Canterbury preschoolers have rotten teeth

More than one in three Canterbury children have decayed teeth by the time they start school.
Dentists say a high sugar diet and children not brushing their teeth with fluoride toothpaste are to blame.
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) data shows 35 per cent of 5-year-olds have been treated for decayed, extracted or filled teeth.
Where teeth needed removing under general anaesthetic, 4.5 teeth were removed from each child on average.
Yet dentists report they remove up to 14 teeth from children aged 3 to 8 years old.
CDHB community dental service clinical director Dr Martin Lee said the problems were getting more severe and starting earlier.
Last year, a 4-year-old boy had eight teeth pulled out and six filled in one operation, he said.
Another preschool boy had 18 out of 20 baby teeth removed, the data said.
The number of three-year-olds referred for treatment under sedation or general anaesthetic  increased from 8 per cent in 2009 to 13 per cent in 2014.
Tooth decay in young children not only caused pain and discomfort, but was linked to longer term oral health problems, New Zealand Dental Association spokesman Dr Rob Beaglehole said.
If baby teeth were extracted, adult teeth often grew in the wrong places, causing crowding and orthodontic problems.
Causes of high tooth decay rates included a lack of oral hygiene, sugary foods and Canterbury's unfluoridated water supply, Lee said.
"Children need to have their teeth brushed in the morning and at night with fluoride toothpaste and that's not happening enough."
Beaglehole said the biggest culprit is sugar.
"There's only one cause of tooth decay and that is a diet high in sugar – particularly sugary drinks."
The cost of dental treatment under a general anaesthetic was about $4000 per procedure, he said.
While tooth decay was worst among Maori, Pacific Island and deprived communities, it was getting worse among NZ-European and Asian ethnic groups.
Between 2009 and 2015, the average number of decayed, extracted and filled teeth in those  children increased from 3.6 to 4.2.
Beaglehole​ said the problem affected the poor disproportionately.
Of the 5-year-olds at decile 10 schools, 23 per cent had tooth decay, compared to 65 per cent of school starters at decile one schools, the figures show.
"You can clearly map out tooth decay rates with not only ethnicity, but also with postcode, it's a disease of poverty."
Lee said post-earthquake anxiety could play a role, putting families and routines under pressure.
"To make those routines work the parents need to be taking charge, and implementing these things – or do you just give up because it's all a bit too hard."
The Ministry of Health said it would release national figures for 2014 in about a fortnight.