dental bulletin  #7

SEcond Hand Smoke - How it may affect learning

Only folks living in a cave do not know that secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard. Nonetheless, we were very surprised to come across a story in the Wall Street Journal concerning the relationship between parental smoking and children’s teeth. It appears that children who are regularly exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke are more likely to develop cavities in their baby teeth. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, 54 million hours of school are missed each year and 4 million children go to school each day in acute dental pain.  Given these statistics, it is no wonder that second hand smoke can pose BARRIERS TO LEARNING.  RHA would like to make you aware of this and hopefully it will help you encourage students and parents to stop smoking or not to start in the first place. Please read more below:

Researchers writing in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association said it was unclear how smoke made children more susceptible, but they offered possible explanations. Please click on the link below to find out more.                 

Researchers said that earlier studies found that nicotine encouraged the growth of bacteria that have a role in the formation of cavities. The researchers also said that smoking weakens the immune system, possibly making it harder for the body to fight bacteria. Additionally, the dry mouth caused by smoke could be a factor.

While cavities have declined greatly among Americans for 50 years, they still cost $4.5 billion a year to treat and represent a huge public health problem, especially for younger children and for those living in poverty. The findings were based on a large-scale study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It looked at the histories of more than 3,500 children, ages 4 to 11, over a 6 year period. Among other things, the study looked at dental health and at the level of a chemical that builds up in the blood in response to secondhand smoke.

The researchers found that children regularly exposed to secondhand smoke were twice as likely to have cavities as children where were not exposed to secondhand smoke. "These results provide one more piece of evidence indicating that passive smoking is harmful and that all children should grow-up in a smoke-free environment."