Casey Ewing* was doing everything right with her daughter?s teeth: She brushed Melissa?s* pearly whites twice a day, took her to the dentist for the first time just after she turned one and kept up with the recommended schedule for professional cleanings. So, imagine Ewing?s disbelief when, after Melissa?s first set of X-rays at around age four, she learned her daughter had eight cavities. ?I was shocked and embarrassed,? Ewing says. ?I kept trying to figure out if I?d neglected to do something, and I couldn?t believe that after all my attention to her teeth, she could have such a significant problem.?
But Melissa isn?t alone. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, between 2010 and 2012 (the most recent data available), almost 30,000 Canadian children under the age of five underwent day surgery to treat tooth decay. (It?s rare for kids this young to be able to sit for a filling or an extraction, so they often have to undergo sedation and sometimes general anaesthesia.) Katherine Ing, a paediatric dentist, isn?t surprised the stat is that high. ?I?ve steadily seen cavities in preschoolers throughout my career,? she says. ?Sometimes the number of kids with cavities fluctuates, depending on things like the level of fluoridation in a community?s water, socio-economic status and trends in diet, but it?s pretty consistent.?
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