Bottled water bad for teeth

By FRANCESCA MOLD health reporter

The health fad for drinking filtered and bottled water is raising dentists' concerns that a generation of young people are doing serious damage to their teeth.

Leading dentists fear that an increasing number of children and teenagers are inadvertently cutting fluoride from their diet by replacing tap water with bottled and filtered varieties.

There is also concern that constant sipping of sport drinks is causing an "acid attack" on the teeth of the young.

Research shows an approximate 20 per cent increase in the worldwide consumption of bottled water, with sales reaching more than $4 billion a year in the United States.

Bottled water contains a maximum of just 0.1 part of fluoride per million, compared to New Zealand tap water, which is usually about 0.7 per million.

The dentists say the lack of fluoride - a mineral which prevents tooth decay - is causing a rise in cavities among young, otherwise healthy people.

Auckland-based public health dentist Bob McKegg called for a major information campaign aimed at young people who did not seem aware of the importance of fluoride.

He said parents also needed to be aware that when they thought they were giving children purer water by buying bottles or filtering it, they were removing fluoride from their diet.

Dr McKegg said there appeared to be an increase in the number of children with tooth decay from homes with water filters.

"Many people, especially those in upper socio-economic areas, are using microfilters and then turning up with buckets of dental disease."

Representatives from leading bottled water companies could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

An Auckland Healthcare specialist paediatric dentist, Callum Durward, said "sipper" bottles, containing highly acidic fruit or sport drinks, were also harmful.

These drinks appeared to be a healthy alternative to soft drinks, he said, but dentists found they severely eroded tooth enamel.

Dr Durward said it was becoming common for children and even preschoolers to walk around sipping sports drinks. Every time they sipped, their teeth suffered a damaging "acid attack," he said.

"It's the constant sipping that causes the damage. Teeth can handle four to five acid exposures a day but they can't cope with 15 or more."

The problem was worst in areas with non-fluoridated water, such as Northland and parts of South Auckland.

The sipper bottles are even being blamed for boosting waiting lists for children needing tooth repair or removal under an anaesthetic.

Dr Durward, who operates at Green Lane and Middlemore Hospitals, said the wait for surgery had rocketed to six months.

"This is not acceptable. The children are in pain and susceptible to infection and abscesses while they are waiting."

About nine children a week had to be treated under anaesthetic for teeth restoration. A large number of preschoolers also had to have their teeth removed because of decay.

"People really have no idea they are causing this kind of damage with a drink."