Children as Young as 18 Months Old Admitted to Hospital for Dental Decay in Australia
Dental experts in Australia are warning of a decay epidemic among children, as reports suggest that children as young as 18 months old require hospital treatment under general anaesthetic.
Sophie Beaumont from Melbourne’s Royal Dental Hospital said that over 1,000 children are admitted for hospital treatment every year in Victoria alone and it is now not uncommon for dentists to remove multiple teeth due to extensive and severe dental decay. One problem is that parents don’t notice any issues until their children have such severe pain that they can’t eat or sleep. Often, the first time a child goes to a dentist is the time they are told that they have severe dental decay and they need subsequent treatment in hospital. This means that they have a very negative first experience at the dentist and have to undergo the risks of surgery in hospital.
Dr Beaumont said that parents have a responsibility to take their children for regular check-ups, a sentiment echoed by a counterpart in New Zealand, Dr Rob Beaglehole. Dr Beaglehole, chief dental officer at Nelson Marlborough District Health, suggested that the issue is not confined to Australia and in nearby New Zealand, around 5,000 children under the age of 7 had treatment in hospital last year.
The main issue facing dentists in both Australia and New Zealand is diet. Many children consume sugary drinks, sweets and chocolate bars on a regular basis. Dr Beaglehole said that it’s not uncommon to come across babies and young children going to bed with fizzy drinks in bottles and feeder cups and many older children think its cool to drink energy drinks, mainly due to the fact that the All Blacks, the world’s most notorious rugby team and a national treasure in New Zealand, are endorsed by Powerade and Coca Cola.
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