Baby boomers who grew up dreading their next dental appointment are observing a phenomenon that once seemed inconceivable: children without cavities.
A recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed that almost 60 percent of kids from 6 to 19 have never had a cavity in their permanent teeth, up from 51 percent in 1988 to 1994. Just more than one-third could make that claim in 1980.
Dentists whose careers have spanned two generations say the gap between today’s children and those of the 1960s is astonishing. They credit dental sealants, fluoridated water and toothpaste, dental insurance and an increasingly health-conscious public.
“Usually, we felt that there would be a cavity for each year of life,” said Dr. Allan Dworkin, a Cross Keys, Md., pediatric dentist, recalling the patients he saw when he began practicing in 1969. Now, he says, the majority of children coming for checkups have experienced no decay since their last visit.
Mysteriously, dental health seems to be improving despite sugar-rich diets that have helped promote an epidemic of obesity.
One exception to the good news involves the nation’s poor children, who have considerably more decay than children of wealthier families. But the condition of children’s teeth across income levels has improved significantly.
Dr. Robert Jones, a dentist in Chestertown, Md., has seen the transformation within his own family. “I have a mouth full of fillings and root canals,” said Jones, 58, who grew up drinking unfluoridated well water. “My son, Mike, (has) never had a cavity.”
The improvements in the nation’s oral health were reported in September in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a statistical journal that tracks public health problems ranging from AIDS to dog-bite fatalities.
Six years ago, the journal listed fluoridation as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.
Although there were gains among low-income families, 20 percent of children from households below the federal poverty level had untreated cavities in their permanent teeth. This compared with just 8 percent of kids from families living at least twice the poverty level.
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