For Nicaraguan children, the tooth fairy is the dentist.

by: Carolyn K. Huynh

SEATTLE, WA – Imagine growing up in an environment where over half the population has never seen a dentist in their life. What would happen to their teeth if they have never learned how to properly care for them? For the people of Nicaragua, this just happens to be the case when it comes to dental hygiene.

Nicaragua is a very young country. About 40% of Nicaraguans are under 15 years old. Generally the rule is you start caring for your teeth at a very young age so when you grow up – they are happy and healthy. But the question is, what if you just didn’t know how? Or have the means to?

For a country that has a low economic standing such as Nicaragua (which is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere), something as simple as putting fluoride in the water seems like an easy fix to help prevention from tooth decay. In America, drinking fluoridated tap water saves you $38 from a trip to the dentist by just simply investing $1 for fluoride.

Currently, Nicaragua is not on the list of countries that have fluoridated water. Putting fluoride in tap water has been an international on-going debate for decades. Though fluoride helps teeth from decaying – it also causes fluorosis, which is a chronic condition that mottles the teeth from too much fluoride consumption. In 1997, the World Health Organization did a study on 233 communities in Nicaragua and found that 85% of children ages 6-15 had a mild diagonise of fluorosis.

However, for Nicaraguan children, having a mild case of fluorosis is the least of their dental problems. Periodontal disease and tooth decay are prevalent among people of all ages. In fact, it is common for most Nicaraguans to need several tooth extractions in one sitting. In the United States it is estimated that 20 million tooth extractions are pulled a year – mostly due for orthodontic procedures as opposed to just simply yanking them out because of tooth decay.

According to AMC (Acción Médica Cristiana), a survey was done on 570 children living in Matagalpa. Of those 570 children, 458 of them had cavities – that averages to about 4.5 cavities per child, and only one child out of the 570 children had ever seen a dentist. Unlike children in America who eagerly await the tooth fairy anytime a tooth falls out in exchange for money– Nicaraguan children are desperately in need of professional dental attention.

It seems unfair to ask a child to take better care of their teeth when there are roughly about 35 dentists scattered throughout the country. It also doesn’t help that in a world where poverty and hunger looms – children’s diets consist of sucking on sacks of sugar to temporary ease the hunger.

Instead of asking for money in exchange for teeth, thousands of Nicaraguans line up outside of clinics whenever missionaries come to help aid them with their oral problems. Some even walk for over two hours to visit dentists that come from overseas. There are also groups that come into the country to help and educate them on oral hygiene.

A group of people called 'Team Nicaragua JMU' are dedicated to assisting and fixing problems Nicaragua. Here, they are teaching a lesson in Spanish at a children's school in Nicaragua on dental hygiene:

• To find out more how you can help prevent dental disease for Nicaraguan children, go to: World Health Organization

• To see what it is like for dentists to come in and set up temporary clinics, go to: NEVOSH