The Importance of Oral Health

With anywhere from 60 to 90% of school –aged children and nearly 100% of adult who experience dental cavities worldwide (“Oral health,” 2012), oral health is a concern that needs to be met with avocation and prevention-based programs. Oral health is an aspect of our lives that many forget about, or simply brushed to the side; that is, until there is a problem that almost always result in relentless pain. Mouth and facial pain are just the acute problems of poor oral health that arises when the problem is worse enough. The real qualms with poor oral health stem from associated psychosocial issues, secondary health issues, and the reduced ability to chew, bit, smile, and even speak (“Oral health,” 2012). In the United States, dentists claim to be seeing an increase in the number of preschoolers from all income levels with cavities (Saint Louis, 2012). Further, these cavities are often contain so much decay that dentist suggest using general anesthesia because the procedure is likely to be painful.

The overarching issue with poor dental health seems to stem from the parents’ lack of preventative measures in the adolescent years because of the common assumption that the baby teeth don’t really require good oral health practices because they will be lost in the years to come. Further, some parents allow their children to consume snacks and candies throughout the day at their request providing a constant landscape for bacteria to degrade the enamel of the teeth and cause tooth decay. To begin to address the oral health issue, these habits and trends need to be converted into positive and beneficial practices.

                  Tooth decay, especially cavities is the most common chronic disease in children even though tooth decay is nearly entirely preventable with the adaptation of proper oral maintenance (NIH, 2012). As a health educator, one of the overarching goals of our country according to Healthy People 2020 is to limit the impact and duration of diseases affecting the country. Thus, a major area that needs improvement is the prevention of tooth decay in adolescents. If we can begin to decrease the impact and duration that tooth decay effects adolescents and infants we can contribute to their positive development and partially begin to address other non-oral health objectives from Healthy People 2020 as well.

                  Additionally, tooth decay can lead to the premature loss of baby teeth. The premature loss of the baby teeth due to decay can cause the permanent teeth to erupt prematurely which can result in permanent teeth coming in crooked because of the limited amount of space available (“Healthy Living,” 2012). Now think of how many children have crooked teeth, which can be corrected by expensive orthodontic procedures. Well according to orthodontist around the nation, around 30% of the cases they see of crooked teeth originate from the premature loss of baby teeth (“Healthy Living,” 2012). Thus, 30% of crooked teeth cases could have been prevented saving the parents money on corrective orthodontic treatments, and the child from psychosocial and secondary health issues associated with having crooked teeth. Further, a lack of positive oral health practices often results in lost school time, eating and sleeping difficulties, and behavioral issues in social settings. A loss of time in school is not the only factor inhibiting a child’s learning, but the associated inability to focus because of oral pain can leave a child surpassed by their peers.  Difficulties sleeping and eating can cause poor dietary behaviors and improper development due to poor sleeping patterns. Additionally, oral pain can lead to irritability and temperament issues that can result in a lack of developmental assets and an accumulation of risk factors.

                  So then, in a world of increasing technological advances in industry and health, why does the data show such increase in the indicators of poor oral health? The answer is simple: There is a lack of prevention promotion among children of ages 0-5 that needs to be addressed in order to reverse the observed trend. However, since children of ages 0-5 don’t typically know what is good for them, the prevention programs have to target the parents of these children in order to be effective. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that parents do the following: Encourage their children to eat nutritious meals and avoid frequent snacking, protect the child’s teeth by using fluoride toothpaste and fluorinated drinking water to strengthen the teeth, further protect the child’s teeth with dental sealants to keep bacteria and food out of the groves of the molars, pregnant women should be sure to take prenatal supplements to insure they get all the nutrients required for proper development, and to brush their baby’s teeth twice a day from the time they first appear (2012). Particularly, the underutilization of dental sealants is an area of oral health prevention in adolescents that needs to be especially promoted because it provides the child with some leeway with their brushing habits since they are children. According to the American Academy of pediatrics, only around 30% of third graders have dental sealants (2012). However, most insurance companies have realized that dental sealants are often worth fronting the money for preventative measures in order to avoid shelling out money for cavities that may arise. The low percentage utilization of dental sealants indicates a lack of awareness, and or a lack of preventative screenings at a young age.

In order to address the needs of a population showing a trend of decreasing oral health, these preventative methods, among many other helpful tips and suggestions need to be conveyed to the target population of parents and their adolescents.  By promoting good oral health behaviors from the time a baby is born, that child will be more likely maintain those healthy oral health behaviors and thus exhibit good oral health into adulthood because they were not hindered by poor oral health at any point in their lives.

Works Cited

American Academy of Pediatrics, (2012). Healthy living. Retrieved from website: http://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/oral-health/pages/When-Children-Begin-to-Lose-their-Baby-Teeth.aspx

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Oral Health. (2012). Children’s oral health. Retrieved from website: http://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/topics/child.htm

Saint Louis, C. (2012, March 6). Preschoolers in surgery for a mouthful of cavities. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/health/rise-in-preschool-cavities-prompts-anesthesia-use.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

World Health Organization, (2012). Oral health. Retrieved from website: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs318/en/index.html