Lax parents accused of raising families with rotting smiles

By CLAIRE TREVETT AND JO-MARIE BROWN

More than half New Zealand's teenagers have mouths full of tooth decay, researchers have found.

Dentists blame parents, saying they are raising a generation of children with bad oral health.

A report to be issued next week says 47 per cent of New Zealand's 5-year-olds have serious dental decay. By the time children reach 12 or 13, the figure rises to 58 per cent.

The Child Oral Health Inequalities in New Zealand report showed the problem was worse in poor communities and among Maori and Pacific Island people.

Dental Association executive director David Crum said parents were failing nearly an entire generation of children.

He said a toothbrushing project run in schools throughout Northland was laudable, but should not be needed.

The project, run by Maori health provider Hauora Whanui, gives primary schools and kohanga reo toothbrushes and fluoridated toothpaste for children to use at lunchtimes.

Northland District Health Board's oral health adviser, Dr Bob McKegg, has credited the programme with a marked reduction in tooth decay at the schools involved.

But Dr Crum said teachers should not have to carry out a parent's responsibility.

"It's sad when you need to do that. You wonder what the parents are doing."

The problem was compounded by the amount of food and drink with a high sugar and acid content that children consumed.

Paediatric dentist Callum Durward said around 30 children a week were having teeth removed or treated under general anaesthetic at Starship and Green Lane hospitals, and the waiting list was six months.

"I feel that a huge part of the problem is related to what happens at home and I think it's possible that we're getting a generation of parents who don't have good oral health awareness."

Dental Therapists Association president Vicki Kershaw said dental treatment was free to anyone under the age of 18 and parents were encouraged to enrol their children at school clinics from age one onwards.

But a severe shortage of dental therapists meant there wasn't the time for them to do the promotion work necessary and that children might not be able to be seen every 12 months.