World Oral Health Day - “Say Ahh! Think Mouth, Think Health”

World Oral Health Day is observed on 20th March every year to create awareness about the issues that surround oral health and the importance of oral hygiene. World Oral Health Day has been observed since 2008, after the approval of FDI in Dubai in 2007. The theme ’Say Ahh: Think Mouth, Think Health’ is a three-year campaign launched this year. It empowers people to acknowledge that a healthy mouth and a healthy body go hand in hand and so by maintaining a healthy mouth, the overall health and quality of life can be kept in check.

In addition to this, the World Oral Health Day offers the whole dental community to join hands and take action to help reduce issues related to dental diseases.

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Why is it Important to Celebrate Oral Health?

It is important because oral health is essential to an individual’s general health and quality of life. About 90% of the world’s population suffer from oral diseases in their lifetime and many of these diseases can be prevented by proper prevention, detection and treatment programs. Risk factors for oral diseases include an unhealthy diet, tobacco use, harmful alcohol use and poor oral hygiene, and social determinants.

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Five Easy Steps to Maintain Good Oral Health

Brush

• Brush twice a day and use a toothpaste that contains fluoride.
• Brush after you’re done eating and drinking for the day.

Floss

• Floss once a day as it can help you clean the tight spaces between your teeth.
• Floss before you brush – that way the fluoride in your toothpaste can coat more of the surface of each tooth.

Rinse

• Use mouthwash as recommended by your dentist.
• After rinsing your mouth with the mouthwash, don’t eat, drink, or rinse your mouth for 30 minutes.

Chew gum

• Chew a piece of sugar-free gum sweetened with xylitol. Xylitol can kill cavity-causing bacteria, and make more saliva in your mouth, which helps to bring down acid levels.

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Facts on Oral Health

• On an average, an adult has seven fillings.
• One in four adults don’t brush their teeth twice a day.
• Brushing only once a day means you’re 33% more likely to develop tooth decay.
• Nearly all adults and 60–90% of school children worldwide have dental cavities.
• Less than a quarter of adults use dental floss regularly to clean their teeth.
• Nearly 30% of people of age 65–74 don’t have natural teeth.
• Sugar makes up for 15% of the daily calories consumed by four to ten-year-olds.
• The UK spends £5.8 billion a year on dental treatments
• 88% of adults have no dental insurance in the UK.
• Mouth cancer is the tenth most common cancer in men in the UK and fifteenth most common in women.
• There has been almost 20 percent (19.6) increase in children being admitted to hospital with tooth decay between 2010 and 2015.

References:

1. World Oral Health Day - (https://www.fdiworlddental.org/fdi-at-work/world-oral-health-day)
2. Facts and Figures on oral hygeine - (http://www.nationalsmilemonth.org/facts-figures/)
3. 5 Steps to Healthy Teeth - Oral Hygiene - (http://www.wakehealth.edu/Health-Central/MCN/Basic-Oral-Hygiene.htm)

Source-Medindia