Children are putting their teeth at risk of excessive damage from sports dehydration by re-hydrating with sugary drinks, according to a University of Queensland oral health expert.
Associate Professor William Young said dehydration had the effect of shutting off salivary protection against the acids in soft and sports drinks that caused tooth destruction.
He said sports dehydration was a common problem among the children he had seen with dental erosion.
“Dehydration causes the body to conserve water and saliva flow is shut off for about two hours thereafter. When saliva flows slowly, it lacks bicarbonate, the main buffer that neutralises acids on teeth,” he said.
“When the child is dehydrated, and saliva protection is lost, acids can corrode the calcium hydroxyl apatite - the mineral that gives the teeth their unique hardness.”
Dr Young and his team, which includes Associate Professor Peter Davies from UQ`s Children`s Nutritional Research Centre and research dietician Surita Meintjes, have examined and documented more than 200 children with excessive tooth wear.
The children are all from the Ipswich, West Moreton and North Brisbane health districts.
The project, Oral Health Promotion for Asthmatic Children, is currently in its third year of National Health and Medical Research Council funding.
Dr Young said it was very easy for children to become dehydrated in Australia`s hot climate and if a child had a soft or sports drink during that time there would be little saliva protection.
Saliva protects against acids from soft drinks. Therefore the diagnosis of toothwear depends on identifying the reasons for loss of salivary protection.
Professor Young and his colleagues are currently investigating the role of asthmatic medications in reducing salivary protection of teeth.
Professor Young said analyses of children`s diets had shown that some children were receiving less than the recommended dietary intake of calcium - suggesting that soft drinks were becoming the drink of choice for children.
“The cola beverages and other soft drinks are the main source of diet acids in children studied with dental erosion,” he said.
“The children`s diet diaries show they are having less dairy foods - milk, yoghurt and cheese - but more soft drinks.
“Hence their diets are low in calcium essential for the growth of healthy bones and teeth. This is also a problem as dairy products prevent dental erosion.”
To combat dental erosion during periods of dehydration and to protect children`s teeth Dr Young has developed the erosion WATCH strategy.
W is for the importance of water; A is for avoiding acidic drinks; T is for tasty fruit; C is for calcium and; H is for the health concerns of the disadvantaged.
Media: For more information, contact Dr William Young (telephone 07 3365 3435, email: w.young@uq.edu.au) Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email: c.saxby@uq.edu.au).
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