Bright Smiles, Strong Lives: Celebrate World Oral Health Day with a Healthier You

Oral health is a topic of low interest. Everyone knows that brushing twice a day is important and good. Flossing – also good. Use mouthwash as directed. Eat the right kinds of food, and avoid very sugary or acidic stuff, and so on and on. But, why bother celebrating it on a global scale? Let us look at some shocking statistics and decide!

Did you know that less than 4.5% of the Indian population even bothers going to the dentist every year? That over 95% suffers from gum disease? And the last one but very important- less than 50% of the population uses a toothbrush?

Oral Health Needs To Be Better Than Just ‘Good’

Let us look at why good oral health is important:
The mouth determines your facial expressions, your diet, and can be a warning sign for other systemic diseases like head or neck cancer, oral cancer, nutrient deficiency, and can even affect your heart health, cause low birth weight in babies etc. We also know that a warm smile solves many problems in life.

One of the main points to remember is that oral disease is largely preventable by following some simple pointers like- brushing regularly, using the right type of toothpaste, flossing regularly and visiting a dentist every year or more often as needed. Eating the right diet is also very crucial.

Theme for This Year

The theme for this year’s celebrations included ‘A happy mouth… is a happy body’. This now makes sense because oral health is a great way to gauge your general health parameters. Access to dentists is fine in urban areas, but not so in rural areas, and this is where a huge gap is noticed.

World Oral Health Day was first celebrated by the Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI) to remember Dr. Chales Godon, who founded the FDI on this day (12 Sep 2007). It is now celebrated on March 20 every year.

Conclusion

Dental health needs to be a priority for us all, and many of us do try to follow important pointers, but give up midway. We may also go to the dentist, but not follow everything they say after a few days. One of the other problems faced relate to payment- insurance does not always cover expenses. Untreated dental issues can cause pain, sleeplessness, migraines and affect quality of life greatly. So, let’s not just celebrate this one day in the year, but try to focus on following oral health practices throughout.