By Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS

Abstracted from the CDC on oral health

The topic of dental care and oral health has been an interest of mine for years. Of all the body parts, I feel my weakness system is my teeth. There is a good reason why my teeth are weak. Being Chinese, we have a higher percentage of lactose intolerance. Therefore, milk was not one of the drinks I grew up with. In addition to milk intolerance, I remember in the old days, milk was a luxury item 75 years ago. We barely had enough vegetables and rice on the table as a refugee family from China. Milk, cheese and other dairy products were not part of our diet.

The most common dental problem we encountered was tooth decay. There was no prevention program or oral hygiene promotion. If there was a tooth decay, we would just go to the dentist to have it removed. It is embarrassing to say that my first dental cleaning was when I worked for the Hong Kong Government and dental care was part of the health benefits. I was 20 years old, and that was my first cleaning procedure. Looking back, I felt sorry for that dentist because there were lots of debris and work on me who had never had dental care. I have decided to read up on dental issues and management of such horrible conditions. 

Below is abstracted from the CDC website, we will begin with the background information on oral health first:

Oral health refers to the health of the teeth, gums, and the entire oral-facial system that allows us to smile, speak, and chew. Some of the most common diseases that impact our oral health include cavities (tooth decay), gum (periodontal) disease, and oral cancer.

More than 40% of adults report having felt pain in their mouth within the last year, and more than 80% of people will have had at least one cavity by age 34. The nation spends more than $124 billion on costs related to dental care each year.  On average, over 34 million school hours and more than $45 billion in productivity are lost each year as a result of dental emergencies requiring unplanned care.

Oral conditions are frequently considered separate from other chronic conditions, but these are actually inter-related. Poor oral health is associated with other chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Oral disease also is associated with risk behaviors such as using tobacco and consuming sugary foods and beverages.

As you can see, oral health is an important topic that we should spend some time to understand and learn. Stay tuned.

Your home work from the Care Ministry this week: identify the status of your oral health. Love to hear from you: kunlouis@gmail.com