Diane Sawyer recently reported on the children of Appalachia and the extreme poverty they live in. Central Appalachia has up to three times the national poverty rate, an epidemic of prescription drug abuse, the shortest life span in the nation, toothlessness, cancer, and chronic depression. While the mountains are beautiful, these ignored rural regions are an embarrassment to our country. [Read more about the Children of the Mountains.]
Sawyer had a follow-up to the story about the toothlessness and how one dentist, Dr. Edwin Smith's, created the program Kids First Dental, a mobile dental van that services school-aged children in 16 eastern Kentucky counties. Smith invested $150,000 of his own money to build a mobile dental clinic inside an 18-wheel truck to combat Mountain Dew Mouth.
This condition was coined Mountain Dew Mouth, not because these children live in the mountains but rather because they consume excessive amounts of Mountain Dew. A 20-ounce bottle of Dew contains 19 tsp of sugar, 93 mg of caffeine, and large amounts of acid. A University of Maryland study revealed roughly 2-5 times the erosion damage compared to regular colas - dissolving 6% of tooth enamel.
After this report first aired, PepsiCo did not take much responsibility for the problem, but placed the onus on the family members and blamed much of the issue on improper tooth care.
However, after additional outrage, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi spoke to Sawyer yesterday and stated the company wants to work with a dentist in eastern Kentucky to help save children's teeth. Nooyi expressed concern "about any overuse or misuse of the soda among small children." Nooyi said PepsiCo will work to recruit more dentists in the region and will give Dr. Smith another van for his work.
Thanks to Diane Sawyer and ABC News for revealing this tragic addiction to pop and for drilling down on PepsiCo (dentist pun intended). And thanks to PepsiCo for making a commitment to educating the region and helping enforce healthy teeth practices.
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