If there were some way to get more industry there things could get better.
A dentist explains what Mountain Dew mouth is, how it happens and how you. It can be such a beautiful place, but has such misery. A dentist shares what we need to know about children’s dental health. I don't know how a lot of people survive there now, and if you have no education or skills you can't get out and go look for work in other states. I remember a mountain that was bare from the mining that kept food on everyone's table. But when we would go out into the county to visit relatives the stark reality around us would show up. My neighborhood was as middle class as you get, with my and most of my friends' families somehow employed in or around the coal industry (and back then my Dad's insurance covered our dental completely, so we have our teeth). I grew up in a little town called Paintsville during better times in the coal industry in the 70s. 20/20 is running a special tonight on the children of Appalachia.ġ. I live in Appalachia, technically, but my area's not that bad off.Īnd the only thing that could help in any permanent way would be jobs. With 50 percent more caffeine than Coke or Pepsi, Mountain Dew seems to be used as a kind of anti-depressant for children in the hills. According to dentists, one of the main culprits is Mountain Dew soda. It's a stereotype rooted in a terrible fact. Teenagers have pulled their own teeth with pliers because of tooth pain, and he's treated 2-year-olds with up to 12 cavities in their baby teeth. I really believe we have to do a better job educating." Smith says he's seen firsthand the results of neglect among these children. "Grandma had dentures, mom had dentures, it's just inevitable that I'm going to end up with dentures, is the way some of these kids feel. "It's a generational thing, I think," said Smith. For many, it's the first and only dental check-up they'll have for years. Most children dread the dentist, but those who line up outside Smith's van are often giddy with anticipation.
MOUNTAIN DEW MOUTH KIDS FREE
Several days a week, he criss-crosses the curvy roads of 16 eastern Kentucky counties to offer free dental screenings and services to hundreds of students. Four years ago, he invested $150,000 of his own money to build a mobile dental clinic, Kids First Dental Care, inside an 18-wheel truck. Edwin Smith, of Barbourville, Ky., is on a mission to save the teeth of Eastern Kentucky's children.
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