A quarter of three-year-olds suffer tooth decay

MORE than a quarter of three-year-old children are suffering tooth decay, the most common chronic childhood disease.

Irish children also have a higher level of tooth decay than those in Britain, according to a leading researcher on oral health.

Dental surgeon Dr Carmel Parnell revealed that 20% of eight-year-olds, 50% of 12-year-olds and 75% of 15-year-olds have experienced decay in their permanent teeth.

“A substantial proportion of children at 5, 12 and 15 years of age have experienced decay in five teeth or more,” Dr Parnell told public dental surgeons attending a conference in Wexford.

And while there was no national data on pre-school children, local surveys were worrying, with the most recent survey revealing that 27% of three-year-olds had decaying teeth.

The prevalence and severity of decay in teeth was significantly higher among disadvantaged children.

Dr Parnell, from the Oral Health Services Research Centre in University College Cork has been working on a project to develop evidence-based guidelines for the public dental service.

“Parents need to receive consistent and appropriate information about the care of their children’s teeth, from the time the teeth first appear in the mouth,” said Dr Parnell.

Good dietary habits, including limiting the amount of sweet foods and drinks consumed, needed to be promoted for good general as well as oral health.

“The only dental-specific dietary advice for very small children is never put sweet drinks, including juice, into a bottle and never let a child sleep or nap with a bottle or feeding cup,” she stressed.

Dr Parnell said oral health should be included in the Social and Personal Health Education programme on the primary school curriculum.

She also recommended that children at high risk of tooth decay should have fissure sealants applied and maintained in vulnerable teeth.

In the past the public dental service tried to maximise its available resources by focusing on school-aged children and prevention of decay in permanent teeth.

Dr Parnell warns that children were now being seen too late to prevent tooth decay.

She wants public health nurses, practice nurses, GPs and other primary care workers to help identify pre-school children at high risk of decay and channel them into the dental services.