DENTAL DECAY-ANOTHER PANDEMIC

Was the end of food rationing in 1954, the slippery slope into a pandemic of dental caries, heralding widespread obesity and metabolic illnesses such as Diabeties becoming so prevalent today in the UK? The highest sugar intake per head of population exists in Scotland with the obvious corollary of extensive tooth destruction and Diabetes. Whilst dental disease is certain to be found in neglected mouths, any preventive solution can only be effective with early detection soon after birth on the eruption of the very first milk tooth.

Perfect teeth and healthy oral tissues are a sign of wellness and the early clues to future illness can be traced from an early age within the signal box of the oral cavity (mouth). Less than 50% of children aged 3 years 6 months have seen a dentist today, with their first milk teeth being exposed to caries 3 years earlier. We have to consider therefore protective measures being in place as newly erupted teeth appear within what is today a potentially destructive acid environment in the mouth caused by the frequent eating of sweets and sugary snacks. The deciduous incisors erupt within 3-6 months of birth and the deciduous molars are all visible usually at 2 years of age. Here, therefore, with the signs of early decay becoming obvious like a cancer, early detection is an imperative when the signals begin flashing red. As time progresses and specialist preventive care is in short supply, the potential threat of further more serious disease looms large and the onward march of neglect soon takes a permanent toll upon the teeth themselves. Untreated disease becomes progressive in time and causes more illness that is very difficult and expensive to remedy. The involvement of a contractual NHS preventive dental care service introduced from birth, embracing a parent as the gatekeeper attending an oral hygiene clinic whilst pregnant, becomes an imperative and the key to future success (4).It is no coincidence to find the families of dentists (and maybe doctors too) have far fewer decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMF) than other families.