Smoking/Tooth
Decay Link
by Amy Young
Photo by Chris Coffey
A Rochester doctor and a dentist have concluded second hand smoke
causes toothdecay in children. Their findings are published in yesterday's
issue of the Journal of American Medical Association.
Dr. Andrew Aligne and dentist Mark Moss believe women who smoke
while pregnant and parents who expose their kids to second hand
smoke in the home are ruining their kids' teeth.
"I hope that people think of this as just one more piece of
evidence that smoking harms children," Dr. Aligne said. "And
that children should be able to grow up in a tobacco free environment."
The doctors studied the dental records of more than 35-hundred
children between 4 and 11 years old. Tooth decay is the most common
chronic childhood disease. Treatments cost an estimated 4 and a
half billion dollars a year.
Original story appeared in Road
Runner News.
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