Fighting kids' cavities

"I was really upset about it," said the Tucsonan. "I took it as a personal affront to me."

But she soon found out that her children are not alone. Cavities in kids are on the rise.

While tooth decay in baby teeth had been decreasing for the past four decades, the latest federal report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides the first statistical evidence that this trend is reversing. The new study shows 28 percent of 2- to 5-year-old children surveyed from 1999 to 2004 had cavities, compared with 24 percent of children surveyed from 1988 to 1994.

"All of Cammie's friends in preschool have cavities," Strong said of her daughter, Cameron, now 5. "One friend had eight cavities and the other had two."

Tucsonan Linda Nazifi, a mother of four, has seen the high rate firsthand.

"All of my kids had at least one cavity in their preschool years," she said. "The youngest was age 1."

The American Dental Association recommends children visit a dentist by their first birthday. Laila Hishaw, one of three Tucson dentists certified by the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, explained that baby teeth are weaker than permanent teeth.

"The enamel is thinner, so if we see a little cavity we do want to treat it because it will spread faster," she said.

While baby teeth are temporary (though the molars can last until age 14), cavities can lead to pain and dental problems as well as overall health problems if not treated properly.

"Parents need to realize that they're not just teeth," Hishaw said. "They are connected to the body."

Dental health is an important part of overall health, agreed Lisa Staten, an associate professor at the University of Arizona's College of Public Health and the director of the Canyon Ranch Center for Prevention and Health Promotion.

While reasons for the upswing in children with tooth decay were not studied, experts say the pattern shows that children might be getting too much sugar and too little fluoride while not brushing properly.

Many factors that contribute to weight problems in children are also detrimental to their teeth.

"Kids are eating more prepackaged meals, less fruits and veggies, and more items that are pre-sweetened," said Bruce Dye, of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Multiple daily snacks also likely are contributing to the increase in decay, said Mary Hayes, a pediatric dentist and spokeswoman for the American Dental Association.

"It's this idea of grazing," she said. "With the wrong foods, you are simply allowing the bacteria to thrive and causing an acid attack on the tooth more often."

It's the same story with a child going to bed with a bottle or sipping juice all day. Hayes advises no more than 4 ounces of juice a day. After that, she considers it candy water.

Another problem is the popularity of bottled water, which typically doesn't contain enough fluoride to prevent decay, according to the American Dental Association. Hishaw gives about half of her young patients fluoride supplements based on dental needs, and recommends the others drink fluoridated bottled water, which is often found in a store's baby section.

"The reason it's not necessary for adults is when we brush our teeth, the fluoridated toothpaste helps the teeth in our mouth," Hishaw explained. "But as children, our permanent teeth are developing in our jaw, so when they drink the fluoridated water it works systemically and those permanent teeth that are developing will get fluoridated. When they come in, those permanent teeth are less susceptible to tooth decay — they're stronger."

Pediatric dentists are trained to work with the smallest patients. They have an additional two to three years of training after dental school and can handle special-needs cases as well as deal with behavior management of anxious children.

"We are the pediatricians of oral health," Hishaw said.

Strong, who originally brought Cameron to a regular dentist, thinks her kids' cavities could have been avoided if she had known to take them to a specialist from the beginning.

"Really, it makes a difference," she stressed. "If you have kids you have to go to a pediatric dentist."

In many pediatric dentists' offices, everything from décor to demeanor is designed to make the tiny patients feel more comfortable. Even the terminology is kid-friendly — a local anesthetic might be a "sleepy bubble" and a laughing gas mask an "elephant nose" or a "pilot mask." Hishaw told Strong's son, Kenneth, that his cavity was a "sugar bug."

"My son uses that expression when he brushes his teeth every night," Strong said. "He says, 'gotta get the sugar bugs.' It's so cute."

Nazifi and Strong both said that their children enjoy visits to the dentist. That's important because experts say the key to combating tooth decay is early prevention.

To fight "sugar bugs," Hishaw suggests limiting snacks and drinks other than water between meals and getting enough fluoride either as a supplement or in bottled water, depending on a dentist's recommendations. Parents should also help their children brush their teeth twice a day — three times if the child has had a sugary snack between meals.

"The good thing is that tooth decay is preventable," Hishaw said. "Just get your checkups."

chiara bautista / Arizona Daily Star Illustration

Halloween tips for tip-top teeth

Tucson pediatric dentist Laila Hishaw is handing out Happy Halloween toothbrushes to her patients as holiday treats, but she's not opposed to eating sweets.

"I'm not the type of dentist that says you can never have a candy," she said.

But you should be wise about the type of candy you and your children eat, she stressed. Here are some tips when it comes to Halloween candy.

• Stay away from sticky candy and gummy or taffy treats that get stuck in the grooves of teeth.

• Stay away from candy that sits in the mouth for a long duration, such as lollipops or suckers.

• Chocolate is a better treat, because it's soft and doesn't stick to teeth.

• The best time to eat candy is right after a meal, because there is a high level of saliva in the mouth after eating and that protects the teeth.

• Let kids have candy once a day and brush teeth immediately afterward.