Cavities in Young Children Skyrocket; Fruit Juice One Culprit

There's a sad front-page story ("Preschoolers in Surgery for a Mouthful of Cavities") in today's New York Times. The headline says it all, but even sadder is that these dental issues are, for the most part, avoidable.

Two of the handful of culprits are our society's fascination with incessant snacking (more on this later in the week) and the volume of fruit juices consumed by our kids. Remember, despite the omnipresent marketing espousing their benefits, fruit juices—even organic, 100 percent juices with no added sugars—are full of sugar that corrupt our kids' teeth and lead to sugar highs replete with ample wall-bouncing. (The fiber in intact fruits and vegetables slows the absorption of the sugars into our bloodstream.)

A family member who is in dental school relayed this information this morning:

"Kids are given such a high amount of juice in sippy cups that they fall asleep with it in their mouths, furthering the decay. Our pediatric professors recommend that we recommend water and no more than six to eight ounces of juice per day, depending on the age of the child."

To reiterate, water, by far, is the best option. (Vitaminwater® is not water.)

Here's the lead paragraph of the article; click here to read the entire story.

"In the surgical wing of the Center for Pediatric Dentistry at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Devon Koester, 2 ½ years old, was resting last month in his mother’s arms as an anesthesiologist held a bubble-gum-scented mask over his face to put him under. The doctors then took X-rays, which showed that 11 of his 20 baby teeth had cavities. Then his pediatric dentist extracted two incisors, performed a root canal on a molar, and gave the rest fillings and crowns."