Every so often, a new story comes out about the American struggle with oral health. Not long ago, for instance, we heard about how 20% of Americans have untreated decay and most have some history of cavity repair: 40% of children, 52% of teens and 75% of adults. Other studies say that by the age of 65, as many as 90% of adult Americans have experienced decay in their permanent teeth.
Why is it such an ongoing problem?
For one, there’s the standard American diet, which is chock full of sugars even before factoring in the sodas, juices and other sweet beverages we’ve come to drink more of. These, along with refined grains and other processed carbs, feed the pathogenic (disease-causing) microbes involved in oral disease. Sugar has other negative health effects, too, and makes us more susceptible to illnesses of all kinds.
Add to this lifestyle factors such as limited physical activity, high stress, poor and insufficient sleep, high drug use (including prescription drugs, alcohol and tobacco) and the like: all these factors similarly weaken the body’s innate self-regulating abilities. We become prone to illness – or at least suboptimal health.
Then there’s the matter of lack of knowledge about dental health and hygiene – a point made quite vividly by survey findings released by the American Dental Association last week. The headline on their press release?
Americans Score a D
on National Oral Health Quiz
The “quiz” was a series of true/false questions answered by nearly 1500 adults. Here’s what the ADA found – and the correct answers:
- 90% think you should brush after every meal.
Twice a day is the usual recommendation. And as mentioned, you should usually wait about a half hour after eating or drinking anything before you brush.
- 65% think you should replace your toothbrush twice a year.
Every three months is more like it.
- 75% don’t know when a child should have his or her first dental visit.
It should happen as soon as their first tooth erupts or no later than their first birthday.
- 81% think sugar causes cavities.
Only part true. As mentioned above, sugars feed pathogenic microbes in the mouth, but it’s the acidic waste they produce that actually damages the teeth.
- 59% don’t know that those microbes can be passed from person to person.
Like other infectious agents, oral bacteria can be passed along from one person to another – through things like kissing or sharing utensils.
Taking good care of your health – dental and systemic alike – means understanding how your body works. That’s why you may find your dentist or hygienist always explaining and teaching at your appointments – teaching that, unfortunately, some patients tune out for various reasons. But the teaching does matter, so we keep doing it. It’s central to our work. As I wrote before,
I can’t speak for all dentists, of course, but as a dentist, it’s important to me that you understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, as well as what you can do to gain and sustain more optimal oral health in general. After all, dentists are doctors, too – physicians whose specialty involves the teeth and oral cavity. You know how the word “doctor” came about? The English word comes from the Latin word docere, which means “to show, teach or cause to know.”
Teaching is part of our job.
Image by Jacob Barss-Bailey, via Flickr