For the last five years the CDC has been warning parents that if they don't start getting their kids to brush their teeth cavities would be coming in droves [PDF]. But apparently parents had other things to worry about and, the Times reports, the number of tykes being put under for dental surgery nationwide is now booming. Another reason to put fluoride in the tap water!
There seem to be lots of causes for the boom in preschooler cavities including, but not limited to:
endless snacking and juice or other sweet drinks at bedtime, parents who choose bottled water rather than fluoridated tap water for their children, and a lack of awareness that infants should, according to pediatric experts, visit a dentist by age 1 to be assessed for future cavity risk, even though they may have only a few teeth.
Another big problem? Parents who are afraid that making little Holden brush his teeth isn't worth the fight. And that problem apparently knows no socio-economic bounds. One dentist reports that "Some parents say: 'He doesn’t want his teeth brushed. We’ll wait until he’s more emotionally mature.' It’s baffling." So instead of dealing with a toothbrush tantrum, parents instead are watching their kids put under for massive (and expensive) dental work—on teeth that aren't even permanent. Not to mention that anesthesia in children can have risks of its own.
In addition, dental decay often presents itself in a similar fashion to teething, which means that many "parents do not realize their child’s teeth are infected until they break or the pain becomes so acute that the child cannot sleep." An event that isn't fun for anyone. Moral of the story: Make your kids brush their teeth. Let them drink tap water and not just bottled stuff. And please, for the sake of all our insurance premiums, take 'em in for a check-up before the problems start.
