Oral health is essential to general health and quality of life. It is a state of being free from mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral infection and sores, periodontal (gum) disease, tooth decay, tooth loss, and other diseases and disorders that limit an individual’s capacity in biting, chewing, smiling, speaking, and psychosocial wellbeing.
A healthy mouth enables people to eat, speak, and socialize without pain, discomfort, or embarrassment.
Pain from untreated dental diseases can lead to eating, sleeping, speaking, and learning problems in children and adolescents, which affect social interactions, school achievement, general health, and quality of life.
Most Common Oral Health Diseases
According to World Health Organization, the most common oral diseases are: dental cavities, periodontal (gum) disease, oral cancer, oral infectious diseases, trauma from injuries, and hereditary lesions.
What are the Risk Factors?
- Unhealthy diet
- Tobacco use
- Harmful alcohol use
- Poor oral hygiene
- Oral Health Practices
To Prevent
- Promote balanced diet. The development of sound teeth begins while still in the womb of the mother and continues throughout life. Pregnant and lactating women should have a well balanced diet. Minimize eating sugary foods.
- Promote correct eating habits among children. Start with exclusive breastfeeding from birth up to 6 months and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years with timely, adequate, and safe complementary foods starting at 6 months.
- Practice good oral hygiene. Promote the practice of self-care for oral health.
- Brush teeth and vigorously rinse mouth after meals.
- Use fluorides and sealants and good plaque control (can be obtained from fluoridated water, salt, milk, mouthwash, or toothpaste).
- Brush and floss teeth regularly and properly at least twice a day.
- Visit the dentist periodically. Bring young children to visit the dentist as soon as the first tooth erupts (normally 6 months old and every 6 months thereafter).
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid tobacco smoking, drugs, and alcohol.
Dental cavities can be prevented by maintaining a constant low level of fluoride in the oral cavity. Fluoride can be obtained from fluoridated drinking water, salt, milk and toothpaste, as well as from professionally-applied fluoride or mouth rinse. Long-term exposure to an optimal level of fluoride results in fewer dental cavities in both children and adults.
Most oral diseases and conditions require professional dental care, however, due to limited availability or inaccessibility, the use of oral health services is markedly low among older people, people living in rural areas, and people with low income and education. Oral health care coverage is low in low- and middle- income countries.
Traditional curative dental care is a significant economic burden for many high-income countries, where 5–10% of public health expenditure relates to oral health. In low- and middle-income countries, public oral health programmes are rare. The high cost of dental treatment can be avoided by effective prevention and health promotion measures.
Public health solutions for oral diseases are most effective when they are integrated with those for other chronic diseases and with national public health programmes. The WHO Global Oral Health Programme aligns its work with the strategy of chronic disease prevention and health promotion.
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