petitefrancaise

Moneypenny as you might remember (or not) I am an ex-dental hygienist. My son's teeth rotted before my eyes when he was young. His diet was not the reason..... he had poor enamel coverage which is a classic symptom of celiac disease, with which he was diagnosed about 3 years later.
Last time I looked, Ghent university had about 600 genetic disorders that can be diagnosed with tooth abnormalities. Enamel hyperplasia (my son's problem) is a common one. If there's anything I can do to help, then please ask.

There are more and more dental peeps that don't believe the current model of dental decay (bacteria ) is correct, we believe that the immune system plays a bigger role than previously thought. There is a little bit of research on this but basically no-one wants to upset the current hypothesis. I could give examples but I think this is beyond the interest of most people on here.

There are things that can be done to protect the teeth and I'd be only to happy to share.

moneypenny20

The celiac connection is interesting. We discovered when she was 19 that she's gluten intolerent. Not officially but clear enough to a blind man. Her teeth seemed to have 'steadied' in the past three years but are marked quite badly.

Teckelspass

Your kids were raised in France for a substantial part of their lives, if I remember correctly? Isn't drinking fruit juice sodas other sugary drinks etc among kids less pervasive than in the US? That has been my experience in Europe (although I never lived in France). We don't have it in our house either, but it is really frustrating and difficult for our daughter when all her friends are having it. As you say, worth it in the long run though.

WEBlue

Fairly balanced article on the possible adverse effects of two artificial sweeteners, sucralose (Splenda, or 'yellow' sachet) and aspartame (NutraSweet, or 'blue' sachet).

Splenda was my favourite sweetener for a long time, but a few years back I forced myself to switch to Stevia (rebiana) due to the indigestion Splenda sometimes seemed to bring on....

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...ial-sweeteners

petitefrancaise

yes, you're right. Eating/drinking between meals for anyone is frowned upon. School meals are nutritious and usually the main meal of the day. Water is served at school. No soda machines.
French people will have juice at breakfast time but not usually at other times.

However, the french love their nutella and chocolate drink for breakfast too. Most of the french women I knew had black coffee for breakfast and that's it.

I worked with special needs kids in France and usually any dental problems were caused by their medications, their disease or inability to brush. Not their diet.

However, latest figures from France show obesity on the increase and certainly so is dental decay.

In the UK, the biggest single reason for a child under 5 to be admitted to hospital is tooth extraction. Usually all the teeth due to decay.

dc koop

Wouldn't you think that any parent with the slightest sense of responsibility make sure their kids brush and floss before going to bed? They're never too young to learn.
My daughter grew up in the 70s and 80s and even back then the benefits of brushing and flossing were known to prevent tooth decay and even further back in my young days brushing teeth was something that was taught.

In a country with a national health system including dental visits and check ups I can only imagine that the parents of these kids who lose their teeth at an early age is just down to their pig ignorance.

petitefrancaise

unfortunately, getting to an NHS dentist can be difficult in the poorer areas. Then the dentists have little time available to give any Oral Hygiene instructions. School visits by the dental team are no longer a given. And then you have to fight all the misinformation and lies spread by the food industry.

There's only so much that brushing and flossing can achieve if your teeth are subject to constant acid attacks due to constant eating.

dc koop

Says lot about the decline of the NHS then. Maybe I shouldn't grumble so much at having to pay 1,900 dollars a year for a PPO Dental insurance plus co-payments for treatments. At least I can get an appointment in a timely manner and the dentist allows enough time in his appointment schedule to do a proper job. My daughter is over 40 years of age and doesn't have a single filling in her mouth.

As for kids with a snacking problem they're never to young to learn the words "No More today... the fridge is off limits"

I had a couple of fillings done at the age of fifteen and another while in the Army. That was when the NHS worked a lot better I suppose

petitefrancaise

Yes, as far as those of us in dentistry are concerned, the government has made it patently obvious that it no longer wishes to provide a full service dental service.

As for parents keeping control of their kids's eating. Have you seen the obesity rate in the UK???? I was really shocked recently when I saw a photo of a group of women I knew in their 40's and every single one of them was seriously overweight. These are the mums. Not so different here.

dc koop

If the obesity rate is bad in the UK it's appalling here in the US across all age brackets.
Fast food can be blamed for much of it but a sedentary lifestyle is the other problem.
I could be wrong but obesity seems to be more common in people with a lower education than those in the professions with college degrees.

scot47

Sweetener ? I categorically deny ever paying a bribe to anyone !

dc koop

I remember the saccharin my mother used to use. Horrible stuff

Sarah

Guy I used to work with collapsed in his cubicle and was taken to hospital. After loads of tests and everyone thinking he had a brain tumor, turned out he had aspartame poisoning. He didn't understand it, the guy next to him slurped on a soda the size of a paddling pool all day long and he was fine. Whereas my co-worker just had a couple of "diet" iced teas a day and sugar-free chewing gums and such, but he did figure out he was either chewing on or drinking aspartame constantly for years.

I guess some people are just more susceptible to it than others. I got pretty tin foil hat about artificial sweeteners for a while after that though. Especially after he came back to work and told me about how he thought he was going blind. Nasty chemical shite.
Just have sugar or nothing imo.

WEBlue

Here's an interesting FDA table I came across. It tells the maximum number of packets of each sweetener that the FDA considers "safe" for human consumption.

https://www.fda.gov/Food/Ingredients...m#SummaryTable


Aspartame (Equal, blue) = 75 packets
Saccharin (Sweet 'n low, pink) = 45
Splenda (Sucralose, yellow) = 23
Stevia (Rebiana, green) = 9

WEBlue

Actually, there are specific warnings about aspartame. Sounds like your co-worker may have had PKU, a supposedly rare condition.

From the FDA link in my previous post above: