Childhood tooth decay

[RunningThroughMyHead]

In 2019, the NDEP found slightly under 1 in 4 five year olds had tooth decay (each child having 3-4 teeth affected).

I'm seeing more and more damaged and decayed teeth in young children, at school, with friends children and in my extended family. The odds dictate there must be many of us on here with young children with tooth decay. Of course, there will be some children who for various reasons, have decay NOT down to oral hygiene or diet. It could be genetic, injury or illness. But it's undeniable that there's some endemic poor oral hygiene going on too.

Why is this? I'm genuinely interested but obviously can't ask anyone IRL.

Why are otherwise very loving parents neglecting their children's health?

Yes it shocked me that our children had a school disco for an hour from 6-7 and the PtA felt it necessary in that time for them all to have a packet of crisps, a sugary drink, a bar of chocolate (all with ticket price) and also a sweets stall they could spend money on . Half the children must have spent most of the time eating! My daughter was shocked she dances for 2-3 hours most nights after school and just takes a bottle of water with her !

Similarly it seems noone can have a birthday without trying to dish out sweets /cake at school and at every club they go to. It frustrates me as my children have allergies so they are always left out but also it just seems really unnecessary.

The problem is worse that statistics would have you believe.
In the past the surveys were done with proper dental lights , chairs and x rays, the more recent childrens epidemiology studies were done in natural light or with torches and no X-rays. There is widespread agreement that decay rates in children in U.K. is grossly under reported in the DMF studies . Even so , particularly since 2020 decay rates are going up again.

Anecdotally many have seen huge rises in decay in children and adults who, previously , were dentally healthy because they took up snacking habits which continue on now.

Deprivation is part of it, in the area I worked almost 50% of five year olds had decay . But equally the children I have seen from the muesli belt have also had problems because of the restricted diets they are having with “healthy” items such as smoothies , granola , raisins , honey , fruit juice not seen as a problem because they are healthy.

Three pages in has anyone mentioned the lack of floride? Definitely a contributing factor where I am. Previous generation of children had floride, it was added to the city water.

There's a LOT of stuff I see on social media about how it's a poison and bad for you
Meanwhile I'm using duraphat!

It is toxic but to be honest I would rather have better teeth and be a bit dumber

Fluoride helps, particularly the more disadvantaged children , and decay rates are certainly less in fluoridated areas.

However fluoride is not the whole answer , you will still get decay if you are in a fluoridated area, brush your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste 37 times a day if you eat or drink something sugary, even just a sip or a bite , more than 3 or 4 times a day .

This is why grazing is so bad , it’s not that a child is eating or drinking a lot of sugary stuff but after each sip or bite their teeth are under attack from acid for an hour afterwards. If it’s something just before bed , even if you brush teeth , because there is less saliva overnight to neutralise the acid it stays attacking the teeth for a lot longer . It’s why eating or drinking anything just before bedtime or during the night other than plain water is so bad,

Is that new? Yes, MN will insist that kids these days are fat and eat all the time as parents don’t want to parent them but I certainly remember a childhood of cokes and Vimto, sweets and bubble gum, sherbet fountains and lollies and the like.

Yes, some children do still eat like that I am sure and I do see squash in baby bottles which is a bit grim but I don’t think there’s been an increase. If anything there is more awareness about healthy diets (and I’m aware fruit features on this which is often considered not great for teeth.)

It’s lazy and reductive to say that parents ‘these days’ are obsessed with snacks when meanwhile NHS dentistry has all but vanished in many areas.

It is impossible to live without eating fluoride, it is naturally present in many drinking water supplies, tea has high levels and root vegetables eg potatoes have high levels of fluoride.

In order to have any sort of problem from fluoridated water in the U.K. you would have to drink over a bath full in a day , however you would have died from hyper hydration (water poisoning ) long before that.

Many things are potentially toxic eg drink too much plain water and it will kill you.

Every health authority from the World Health Organisation downwards is in favour of water fluoridation. But , of course, what do they know compared to a randomer on tic toc ?

@Lollygaggle exactly
I want all the fluoride so I use the prescription one I've been given

Also I guess people rinsing doesn't help, there was a giant thread on here ages ago where people are brushing and immediately rinsing which to me you may as well brush with nothing

I concur, constant exposure to sugary rubbish and parents who can’t be bothered to brush them or ‘they don’t like it’.

Recent FB parents group were discussing how they use opaque drinking bottles for school so the teachers can’t see they’re full of squash or orange juice. I mentioned the dental aspect and was told I would ‘give kids an eating disorder’ 🤷‍♀️

The average U.K. child eats twice the recommended amount of daily sugar. 88% do not eat 5 portions of fruit or vegetables a day .
The number of times a day a U.K. child eats is increasing and is now over 7 times a day .
This is quite old research now but puts the problems well . Our children in the U.K. do not eat well or healthily. Neither do we adults . https://www.laca.co.uk/news/uk-children-are-feasting-junk-food-least-three-times-day-finds-study

I agree that the problem is worse than the statistics, the survey still does use lights as previously, but now parents have to consent whereas years ago they didn't so that is a bias. Also there's known to be a huge amount of decay that can only be seen on xrays that wouldn't be picked up on a survey in school.

The numbers are too small to be be significant, only about 5% are looked at.

Targeted toothbrushing is a very good start!

It’s lazy and reductive to say that parents ‘these days’ are obsessed with snacks when meanwhile NHS dentistry has all but vanished in many areas.

seeing a dentist whether NHS or private does not prevent tooth decay. All we can do is identify it and treat it. Prevention is all to do with diet and oral hygiene.

My kids are only allowed water or milk. Have never had squash or fizzy drinks etc. They have a no added sugar diet. Despite this, because they have natural sugars in fruit the dentist was still concerned about me physically assisting with brushing until they're 7! I think many parents stop doing it for their kids way too young, similar to parents who don't accompany their kids to the toilet and you see these kids coming out of cubicles not flushing or washing their hands.

Yeah. See it so often on here. Won't force them so tip into neglect instead.

Needs doing several times a day, as well as when going to the dentist!

I have had patients who, when the hygienist has asked them “how often do you brush your teeth?” , reply “I don’t that’s what I pay you for”.

Conversation with a friend of mine who’s child had to have 6 teeth out.

He won’t let me brush his teeth and I can’t force him… you can you know! He’s 4!

Exactly right… spit don’t rinse and don’t use mouthwash , it washes fluoride away and interacts with toothpaste.

supervise brushing and go around back teeth yourself until child is at least 8 . They don’t have the dexterity to do it properly before then.

Something I have noticed in Australia is people eating all day long. Nobody goes hours without putting something in mouth. People carry food in bags, have food in cars, office drawers.
And the crap people eat is endless.
People go to the beach with bags of crisps, snacks, drinks, at sport events and meets it is even worse.