Oral Health 🪥
A resource for tips, tricks and expert advice.
Did you know?
Oral diseases are a silent epidemic that targets poor children, the elderly, and minority groups; Tooth decay is the single most common chronic childhood disease. Poor children suffer twice as many dental caries as their more affluent peers, and their disease is more likely to be untreated.
Dental caries are completely preventable with education and preventative treatments, i.e. fluoride varnishes and dental sealants.
“The Tooth Fairies” can bring access to needed dental care for children in your community.
Oral Health Fact
Cavities are the most common chronic diseases of childhood in the United States. By age 8, over half of children (52%) have had a cavity in their primary (baby) teeth.
Reference:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oral Health Surveillance Report: Trends in Dental Caries and Sealants, Tooth Retention, and Edentulism, United States, 1999–2004 to 2011–2016. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Dept of Health and Human Services; 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/publications/OHSR- 2019-index.html
Oral Health Fact
Delivering education through games and shows resulted in significantly better oral hygiene knowledge and skills than verbal instructions. Children receiving a role-playing or drama mode of health education had significantly better oral hygiene than those without interventions or those receiving conventional education from a dentist or a trained teacher.
Reference:
John BJ, Asokan S, Shankar S. Evaluation of different health education interventions
among preschoolers: a randomized controlled pilot trial. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent.
2013;31: 96–99. pmid:23886720