To Tell The Tooth...

Dr. Pietrini writes a monthly column for Fra Noi, an Italian newspaper. This month's article is featured below. Click here to view articles by category

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth By Dr. Dennis R. Pietrini

As a child growing up in post-World War II, America, one of my earliest memories of Christmas was listening to a song by Spike Jones and His City Slickers—All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (1948). Since starting my private dental practice in 1972, I have treated as many as five generations of patients in some families. Recently, a darling seven-year-old girl presented with her two front teeth missing. It seems as though it was just yesterday that her mother was a little girl with her front teeth missing.

When I examined the seven-year-old, I found that she had several cavities in her primary (baby) molars. Due to the extent of the decay, I had to give her a local anesthetic to perform the required treatment. As the numb feeling began to take effect, she quipped, “My tongue feels wavy like a camel’s back.” She was very co-operative and allowed me to complete the treatment necessary to retain these teeth. For future function and development a child should not loose the primary teeth prematurely.

In the last sixty years, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of decayed, missing and filled (DMF) teeth in American children. The main reason for this improvement has been the addition of fluoride to drinking water, toothpaste and mouth rinses as well as fluoride applications in dental offices. In the October 24, 2005 issue of Time magazine, an article discussed the ongoing debate about fluoridating communal drinking water.

In the past, I have avoided editorializing in this column; however, I feel in this case I must express my opinion. As stated in the Time article, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) considers the addition of fluoride in the drinking water to be “one of the 10 great public-health achievements of the 20^th century.” To quote the CDC’s director of oral health, William Maas, “A community can save about $38 in dental-treatment costs for every $1 invested in fluoridation.” Nearly every major medical/dental organization or institution endorses the use of fluoride, yet there are several antifluoridation groups voicing their opposition. In a future article, I will discuss why I believe that these groups are very misguided.

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