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When it comes to childhood tooth decay, it could be second-hand smoke
and not the sugar monster that is landing young children in the
dentist's chair, a study shows.
US researchers investigating the reason for relatively high rates of
tooth decay among children in low-income families found a significant
association between cavities in primary or "baby teeth", and
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
Baby teeth are normally pushed out by permanent teeth, which have a
harder enamel surface, about the age of five or six years.
In a study of 3,500 children between the ages of four and 12,
one-third had at least one filing, while a quarter had at least one
unfilled decayed tooth surface.
Slightly more than half (53%) had high blood levels of cotinine, a
by-product of nicotine--a marker that correlated strongly with the
children who had tooth decay.
The findings "provide one more piece of evidence indicating that
passive smoking is harmful and that all children should be allowed to
grow up in a smoke-free environment," the authors wrote in the
study that appears in April's issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
The University of Rochester researchers, who based their analysis on
a national study conducted in 1988-1994, did not find the same link
between passive smoking and decay in permanent teeth.
They speculated that second-hand smoke might promote tooth decay in
children's first set of teeth by reducing their immunity and/or
contributing to dry mouth, which interferes with the beneficial
properties of saliva.
Tooth decay among young children has declined dramatically in the
past 50 years in the United States thanks to fluoridated water and
toothpastes, but progress has been uneven, with young children living in
poverty still particularly susceptible to the oral infectious disease,
according to the study.
Annual treatment costs in the United States are estimated to be at
least 7.46 billion and tooth decay is still the most common chronic
childhood disease, according to background information provided the
authors.
--From the Internet , April 13, 2003
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