Well, I sure know what killed my teeth. If a child has no direction when it comes to his health, including his teeth, then dental problems are pretty well a given.

I really didn't have any supervision when I was growing up. There was no mother around and my father was drunk most of the time, so basically a city of three million was my playground. If I wanted money, there was nobody who had any to give me, so at an early age I developed quite a work ethic. I cut lawns, and set pins in bowling alleys, delivered flyer's and in the Summer picked strawberries and blueberries.

When I look back on those days, I realize now that having money as a kid was not always a great thing. I could pretty well buy all the junk I wanted. At the time, I thought it was great. Especially in those days when one dollar bought a "ton" of candy. The opportunity was there for me to take full advantage of.

And of course, I did.

I hung out with my buddies and between the three of us we probably drank enough Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, and Cream Soda to re-float the Titanic. It was pretty well a way of like. Go to school, work some sort of job, and buy enough junk food to make sure that I had no chance at all of avoiding tooth decay.

It wasn't just our love of soda. Then there was all the candy and chocolate bars. Not just any candy. Jaw-breakers, licorice, and caramels. Oh Henry's, Wagon Wheels, Sweet Marie's, and Mackintosh Toffee.

Yes, I had it all. The world was my oyster. Eat all the junk I wanted and never once did anyone tell me I should brush my teeth. I started having cavity problems by the time I was 12. From there it just continued to head downhill.

I started to lose my teeth by the time I was 14. By the time I was 20, I had upper dentures.

Now, thanks to a great dental plan, I have enough gold crowns on my bottom teeth to buy a new car. But I'll stick with my beater because I don't want to be eating mush for the rest of my life. I suppose considering what I went through, I was lucky to make it through most of my adult life with at least some of my own teeth.

So there you have it. If you want to know what causes tooth decay it's simple.

It's irresponsible eating and not bothering to look after your teeth. The impact is especially serious in the early years of our life. The habits that are formed there will stay with you for most of your life, or at least until it's to late to make much of a difference.

So if you have young kids at home who think all that brushing and flossing is a waste of time, be sure you persist regardless of how much they complain.

They will thank you for it one day.

Learn more about this author, Ray Fauteux.
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