ROTTEN TRUTH ABOUT KIDS’ TEETH
THIS is a health crisis as shocking as it is wide-ranging, and one that experts say was wholly preventable. According to a report released by the Royal College of Surgeons yesterday, record numbers of under-fives are having rotten teeth removed.
Hospital extractions among pre-school children have soared by 24 per cent in just ten years.
Astonishingly, even babies are affected — last year alone, 47 infants under the age of one had newly grown milk teeth taken out.
‘The youngest child I have extracted a decayed tooth from was 18 months old,’ says children’s dentist Dr Jeremy Kaufman, who extracts children’s rotten teeth on a daily basis. ‘We are not doing enough to prevent child dental decay.’
From well-meaning mums unknowingly plying their children with sugary foods to those whose breastfeeding on demand can have surprisingly harmful consequences, we examine the causes behind the dental disaster.
EVEN MILK IS A CULPRIT
RATHeR than leave their child to cry themselves to sleep, well-meaning but time-pressed parents are giving their baby or toddler a bottle to help settle them in their cots.
But pre-bedtime drinks are one of the major culprits of tooth decay, especially when a baby falls asleep with a bottle still in their mouth.
‘Milk contains lactose, which is a wheat sugar that sticks to the front teeth, and when we’re asleep we don’t produce any saliva to wash this sugar off,’ says Dr Kaufman, who runs a private practice for children in North London.
With most major brands of formula milk containing up to 8g of sugar per 100ml feed, this can have wreak havoc on a toddler’s teeth. Karen Coates, dental adviser for the Oral Health Foundation, says: ‘Children are creatures of habit, and if they get used to falling asleep with a bottle they’ll always want one.
The last thing a child should have in their mouth before bed is a toothbrush.’
Surprisingly, Dr Kaufman also says breastfeeding, around the clock, a baby or toddler with teeth — something mothers who subscribe to attachment parenting often do — can also cause problems, as breast milk contains 7g of natural sugars per 100ml.
‘ I saw a two- year old child yesterday with six holes in their teeth caused by being breastfed on demand,’ he adds.
SWEETENED BABY FOOD
THe temptation to abandon homemade purees and wean babies on to solids with shopbought ones has never been greater, thanks to an explosion of baby foods targeted at busy, but health-conscious, parents.
Yet a recent study by Glasgow University found such products containing vegetables typically used sweeter varieties such as carrot and sweet potato, and nearly a fifth contained added fruit juice to sweeten them further.
Another American study in 2015 found that out of 79 baby and toddler products, almost half contained added sugar.
‘Manufacturers add sugar into baby food to make it palatable for
the mother, who wouldn’t give it to her child unless it tasted nice,’ says Karen Coates.
‘If you’re pureeing food at home for a baby, you won’t add sugar, but pre-made jars of baby food will have it added.’
The ella’s Kitchen range — the go-to brand for busy middle-class mothers — contains a whopping amount of natural sugars. For example, its Apples Plus Bananas, 120g, contains 19.6g of sugars.
DENTIST-DODGING
IN OUR hectic society, parents simply aren’t brushing their children’s teeth properly, or finding time to take them to the dentist
As any mum of pre-schoolers can attest, trying to prise a toothbrush into a tired toddler’s mouth is tricky business.
Little wonder that, according to a 2015 survey, one in ten parents
became so demoralised that they sent children to bed without cleaning their teeth at all.
‘Parents often end up letting their children brush their own teeth, not realising that they don’t have the manual dexterity to reach all surfaces — especially the back molars — until they are eight years old,’ says dentist Dr Rhona eskander. ‘They must be supervised and brush for two minutes twice a day.’
According to NHS guidelines, children should first see a dentist on the appearance of their first milk tooth (usually between six and nine months).
However, all too many parents put off their child’s first, vital appointment.
‘I’ve known parents to not bring their child into a dentist until they are seven, by which time they need treatment or a tooth extraction,’ says Dr Kaufman.
SNACK ATTACK
GONe are the days when a child complaining of a tummy rumble was told they’d just have to wait until the next meal time.
Our children are snacking more than ever; one recent survey found more than a third of youngsters under ten eat junk food every day. ‘Unlike previous generations, our children are never hungry,’ says Karen Coates. ‘There is an increased availability of sugary food and drinks marketed at them.’
It is not just the obvious culprits such as fizzy drinks and sweets that are ruining their teeth either, but supposedly healthy lunchbox favourites such as cereal bars, smoothies and fruit.
‘ Middle- class parents think they’re doing their children a favour by giving them fruit as a treat, whereas actually fruit can cause just as much damage,’ says
Dr eskander. Indeed, fruit often contains more sugar than some chocolate treats.
For example, an average- sized orange contains 23g of sugar while a small banana contains 17g — considerably more than a two-finger Kit Kat bar, which contains 10.8g.
Dried fruit is even more damaging — there are 53g of sugar per 100g of dried apricots — and has a greater propensity to stick to the teeth. ‘Dried fruit is as bad as sweets,’ adds Dr Kaufman.’
The decay is caused by sugar reacting with bacteria in the mouth to excrete an acid that attacks the tooth enamel. Constant snacking means saliva — which is alkaline and restores the mouth’s pH balance — is unable to prevent decay.
‘It is not just the amount of sugar children are being given, but the frequency with which they are eating it,’ says Dr eskander. ‘Constant exposure to sugary food and drinks creates an optimum environment for decay, as the saliva can no longer defend against this acid.’
‘Parents often buy fat-free foods such as Petits Filous yoghurt as they think they are healthier. But they are often full of hidden sugars.’ Indeed, 100g serving of the yoghurt contains 12g of sugar.
Baby biscuits are no better. even a Heinz rusk contains 29 per cent sugar — more than that found in a chocolate digestive. While Organix Apple And Orange Fruit And Cereal Bar has 8.1g sugar per 30g bar.