Childhood dental diseases easily preventable

Halloween is the gateway to holiday treats of sugar and spice. But poor oral health can turn the sweet times sour.

Pediatric dental disease, more commonly known as tooth decay, is the number 1 one chronic disease among children in the United States, according to the National Children's Oral Health Foundation. This disease can have serious consequences for children's health including malnourishment, life-threatening infections, anemia, emergency surgery and even death.

“Sports drinks are a big culprit,” said Brian Kynaston, a dentist at McPherson Dental Care. “It's good after an activity, but when you're drinking it all day, that's a lot of sugar bacteria can turn to acid, which erodes teeth.”

Kynaston said juice and drinks with high sugar content can increase the risk of tooth decay. Even milk, with its bone-building calcium, and contribute by feeding acid-producing bacteria.

In the short term, this can lead to tooth pain and infection. Long-term consequences can be more difficult to deal with.

“Whenever you have to pull teeth for kids, it can lead to poor teeth for adults,” Kynaston said. “If you take out a baby tooth prematurely, the other teeth will fill the gap, and the adult tooth won't have space to come in.”

Pediatric dental disease can also lead to tissue infection and abscesses in the mouth, which can be dangerous to overall health.

Fortunately, it is also almost 100 percent preventable. Good brushing and flossing habits keep teeth in good shape, as do yearly visits to the dentist.

“Another thing we can do as a city if we want to arrest dental disease is look at fluoridating our water,” Kynaston said. “It gets absorbed by the teeth, which makes harder and denser enamel. This makes teeth less susceptible to acid.”

Fluoridation, or the process of adding fluoride to drinking water, is done in about 70 percent of public water supplies in the United States, according to Fluoride Action Network. However, some oppose fluoridation over health concerns and questions about how effective the practice is.

“I understand both ways,” Kynaston said. “But if we're looking strictly at dental disease, fluoridation would help.”

Source:  http://www.mcphersonsentinel.com/article/20151023/NEWS/151029599

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