Prevention is Key
Dental disease is a global issue that affects 60 to 90 percent of schoolchildren.
Naturally, the mouth is filled with hundreds of species of bacteria. When these bacteria join with food particles in your mouth, they cover the teeth and gums with a sticky substance called plaque which produces acids that can rot the teeth and inflame the gums. Left unattended, it can advance enough to destroy both gum tissue and bone. This is known as periodontal disease. Periodontal disease causes up to 20 percent of adults from 35 to 44 to lose their teeth. With mounting research linking the health of the mouth with that of the entire body, there is a growing realization that oral care is a health issue that needs to be considered by all health practitioners.
In the past, most medical personnel, public health professionals and educators included little, if any, consideration of oral health in their practices, standards or curriculum. That is changing now. More and more medical students are being cross-trained, learning how to do basic oral health screening and apply fluoride varnish.
Early intervention should start in the pediatrician’s office. Young children see a pediatrician about eight times or more before ever visiting a dentist, which is oftentimes too late, as cavities may already be present. As part of a normal well-child visit, parents fill out an assessment sheet, answering questions on how often they brush their child’s teeth, what their kids snack on, and whether the bottle their child takes into bed at night contains juice, water or another drink. This can clearly identify problems and give doctors the opportunity to discuss healthy habits with parents. At this time they can also emphasize the importance of diet in preventing oral disease. Children living in poverty are often less likely to get the kind of nutrition that’s important for development of their teeth.
Dealing with a public health problem of this magnitude requires innovative, creative, collaborative solutions. The good news is tooth decay occurs slowly enough that it can be stopped, or even reversed.
In January 2010, a team of 11 men and women from New York University’s College of Dentistry headed to the tiny island of Grenada in the Caribbean. For the two weeks they were there, they transformed classrooms into makeshift dentist offices and assessed the dental health of 1,075 kids from two age groups – six to eight-year-old elementary school children and young teens, 14 and 15 years old.
During these exams, they made an alarming discovery. Eighty-three percent had cavities, and not just one, but an average of nine.
“I have observed babies given soda in baby bottles, and learned of young children who were given candy for breakfast, a chocolate bar for lunch and a bag of chips for dinner.” – Karen Sokal-Gutierrez
Many of the country’s 26,000 children had never seen a dentist and didn’t own a toothbrush. In addition, they drank lots of soda and ate sugary snacks and the country had no water fluoridation program.
Workshops and forums helped to make oral hygiene a priority. Teachers were trained and began a daily two-minute brushing regimen with their students and encouraged healthy eating. Fluoride varnish was applied to student’s teeth three times a year to protect against the acids that cause cavities. After just two and a half years, the incidence of new cavities in school-aged children had dropped by 75 percent.
In the U.S., tooth decay remains the most common chronic childhood disease: more than half of teenagers have had cavities and about 114 million Americans lack dental coverage. Many new avenues are bringing forth novel ways to prevent oral disease, but for now, there is a growing, universal urgency to address the current crisis.
To view the entire article visit www.scientificamerican.com/products/the-future-of-oral-health/.
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