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Does it only happen to me, but it seems that when I look desperately for things, I can’t find them… only to recover them when I’m looking for something else, or nothing at all? I was deleting clutter on this computer and found stashed on drive D this article I thought I had lost when I unintentionally deleted several posts on my Live Writer. I wrote this late January, but for whatever it is worth, I’m reposting…

Every last Thursday of the month, my local dental society meets and since February is National Dental Health Month in the Philippines, focus was on activities for its kick off in a few days. This is the third year we are at it, and when previously we had only one week, we now have a whole month of observance. Whether this ploy really works remains to be seen over a long time. We need more than public awareness. There has to be working systems and sound policies which ensure that awareness translates into action. Only then can we say that we didn’t do it all in vain.

Pardon me for starting with a pessimistic note, but we Filipinos belong to the least healthy when it comes to our teeth (the whole mouth and associated structures, included), and I don’t see any improvement any time soon. I’d like to support my opinion with figures, but related data are rather outdated, if not limited. So I am basing them from observations as a private practitioner and from the occasional outreaches I am involved in.

Culture and the lack of enabling factors do play a large part to it. Majority of child patients I see in my clinic had to be absent from school because they needed emergency treatment for an aching molar, a swelling (some involve rupturing on to cheeks), the broken incisor, or jagged teeth from cavities you’d wonder if the kid had ever seen, much more used, a toothbrush. Hardly for preventive care. Most of my teenage patients suffer from rampant tooth decay, and there were even a few completely toothless patients, the youngest of which was aged 14! An increase in number of cavities, and in missing dentition (from extraction; and either replaced or not with proper dentures), plus problems on the gums and supporting structures to teeth, tend to occur in the same proportion with age, too. The scenario gets even worse in the more remote areas, either underserved or totally unserved. It moves me when people have to leave their homes and livelihood early in the morning to walk to a distant barrio where there is an outreach program, only to arrive later and be told that there are no more bunot (extractions) as supplies have been exhausted. .

Every school-age child is familiar with the adage, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”, I assume. But only a few actually know how to and many do not have the chance to practice it. I am a calorie counter, and looking at the food in my university’s cafeteria, I am always forced to eat elsewhere. The choices get even more limited if you have to consider getting only the “tooth-friendly” food available.

There may be noticeable differences with demographics, such as sex and socio-economic status, but then for me it’s all the same. People are affected, people are unaware and misinformed about it, and people are not getting the necessary attention.

We take for granted oral health. I was more alarmed than disappointed seeing that the jewelry repair shop next to my first clinic was busier. And I thought traffic to me then was fair for a beginner. The prevailing attitude is, “hindi naman kasi nakamamatay” (because it won’t kill) and it can’t complicate into other health issues. And often, dentists are only seen as “tagabunot” (literally, one who removes). That teeth will get decayed sooner or later, so they might as well wait and just have it replaced when it bothers. And it’s expensive to have teeth fixed. And there are “spiritista“s, quacks they can go to for the allegedly painless solution. That milk teeth get replaced later on so there shouldn’t be fuss about losing them. The list of misconceptions can go on. That’s why there really is a need for a massive information campaign to dispel and correct these.

It will take time, and would have to involve a lot of manpower and funding, plus public awareness and support, and related policies need to have teeth. Perhaps the best campaigns will involve schools. Almost all the necessary resources are in place. I’m thinking of famous chef Jamie Oliver and what he has done to the quality of meals served in schools in the UK. His School Dinners documentaries on television not only drew in a lot of interested viewers but even had over 271,000 people sign a petition for Apartment 10 at Downing to consider. What if we take it a step further and have school canteens serve only healthy meals and ban the sticky sweets? And if these foods cannot be totally eliminated, why not make it easier for our kids to find time and access to simple oral hygiene habits? Inspiration can be had from t.v., finally.

Also, education starts at home. Parents, mothers particularly, need to be corrected of false beliefs about tooth care. Habits could go on along generations.

Granted that many families in the country cannot pay for the more complicated dental services, the basics of oral health care is still very much within everyone’s capacity. Simple things like conscientious and proper tooth brushing/flossing, regular check-ups, the use of fluoride, correct diet, consumption of Calcium…plain and easy habits which go a long way and would save our hard-earned peso.

Facts and figures on the following links:

The World Oral Health Report 2003

The WHO Oral Health Home

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