The Tribune

PEOPLE aged 21 and older who missed seeing the dentist during the “five critical dental years” keep wondering thereafter “what has happened to my teeth?” They are wondering because their teeth, in many ways, have hit rock bottom early in life.

The five critical dental years are between the ages of 13 and 18, when teenagers are in high school. At this time of life, strict dental attention is needed but we find that this is when the most dental neglect takes place.

When a person is 13, they would have shed the last of their baby teeth and would now have a full mouth of permanent teeth. This is when parents have to literally wake up if they had been asleep earlier in the child’s dental life.

Diet

The diet of high school students is a major concern. With all the fast foods now available, it is a conscious decision for all to acquire a nutritious meal. Likewise, almost all commercially prepared drinks are filled with high fructose corn syrup sweeteners. These drinks load the mouth with sugar, and the teeth become vulnerable to bacterial attack on the sugars resulting in caries (cavities).

Caries

Dental caries are the greatest threat to teeth during the five critical dental years. As a direct result of the diet (food and drink regularly consumed) of teens, caries can become rampant in a short period. This process is worsened if the teen does not get professional care or does not exhibit good home care of the teeth.

Dental extractions

It is unfortunate when parents neglect to seek dental care for teenagers who are at a vulnerable place in life dentally speaking. It cannot be overstressed that teens need regular dental visits. It is estimated that more than 75 per cent of our local teenagers do not have regular dental visits. This is not the fault of the schools. The fault is in the homes.

A combination of mediocre home care coupled with no dental visits is a recipe for disaster. This always leads to dental extractions and is a horrifying prospect for all concerned. Although the loss of a bad permanent tooth here or there does not seem like a big deal to many, it becomes a huge deal later in life for the teen.

The five critical dental years need to be taken seriously by parents. There is hardly a teenager that is sufficiently mature to realise the importance of the health of the mouth. Every now and then, we find a teenager who is very mouth conscious and can point their parents in the right direction so that they (the teen) can receive proper dental care. This is great, but rare. In 95 per cent or more of the cases teens are depending on their parents to make informed dental health decisions.

This article should challenge every parent/guardian to step up and realise that they are responsible for all the negative dental outcomes where their teens are concerned. This process starts with parents becoming more aware. The dental consequences are too great for our teens when parents/guardians are not aware.

Here’s something to ponder: parents who do not visit the dentist themselves raise teens who suffer from dental neglect, who then go on to become parents of the next dentally-neglectful generation.