Little kids getting more cavities - Cavities

Little kids getting more cavities
May 1, 2007
Earthtimes.org

ATLANTA, May 1 The rate of young children with cavities has increased in the only rise in tooth decay in the U.S. population, a government report released in Atlanta said.

Dentists told USA Today the increase in preschoolers with tooth decay could be because they drink less milk and fluoridated water and more juice and soda, or because their parents might be too busy to help them brush properly.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that the percentage of children between ages 2 and 5 who have at least one cavity in their baby teeth was 28 percent between 1999 and 2004, up from 24 percent between 1988 and 1994.

Overall, tooth decay has been decreasing since the 1960s, Bruce Dye, a dentist and epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics and the report's lead author, told USA Today.

"This is the first time we are seeing a rise, and it's in the baby teeth of young children," he said. "We know from population studies that kids who have cavities in their baby teeth are more likely to have cavities in their adult teeth. And premature loss of baby teeth will more likely create crowding problems for adult teeth."