80M Pinoys suffer from oral diseases — expert
ABOUT 72 percent or around 80 million Filipinos are suffering from oral diseases, and most of the affected population group is schoolchildren, an expert from the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) said on Friday.
Citing recent data from the National Survey on Oral Health of the Department of Health (DoH), PDA Executive Secretary Dr. Sheryl Lantican said that 85 percent of people with dental caries were 5-year-old children, while 68.25 percent were 12-year-olds.
This is why programs and campaigns against oral and gum diseases are usually aligned with school-age children.
“Now, a lot of [people] may say that it’s just a dental disease. For the information of everyone, dental caries is now considered one of the rampant diseases here in the Philippines and even globally,” Lantican said.
“Dental disease is so rampant that it has become one of the major reasons why children are absent from school. In fact, in my practice as a dentist, employees are also experiencing toothache, making it the leading cause of absenteeism,” she added.
According to the National Institute of Health, dental caries, also known as tooth decay, is a chronic infectious disease caused by bacteria that metabolize sugars into acids, which demineralize the hard tissues of teeth.
Children are known to love sweets, making them vulnerable to many oral diseases, leading to tooth extraction, according to experts.
“Let’s not normalize tooth extraction and using dentures. Oral health diseases are preventable. Our vision in the Department of Health is that, by the age of 70, every Filipino should have more than 20 teeth, for them to enjoy quality of life. This is a lifestage approach with emphasis on routine primary preventive care, which starts on the first 1,000 days of the baby until adulthood,” Dr. Manuel Vellesteros, division chief of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau.
Recently, in celebration of the 20th National Dental Health Month (NDHM) on February 5, over 4 million dental kits were pledged by Colgate-Palmolive Philippines Inc., which have been distributed to all dental chapters and public schools nationwide.
Around 4.7 million school-age children nationwide have benefited from this project.
Moreover, as introduced by DoH Undersecretary Enrique Tayag, the DoH has come up with its “Vision 7020: Oplan Iwas Bungal” with eight action points: 1) pahalaghan ang oral health (take care of the oral health); 2) alamin ang mga serbisyong available para sa iyo (know the services available for you); 3) kapag sugar away, walang tooth decay (if sugar is away, there is no tooth decay); 4) ugaliin ang tamang pagsisipilyo (practice proper tooth brushing); 5) gawing regular ang pagkonsulta sa dentista (consult the dentist regularly); 6) stay hydrated, uminom ng sapat na dami ng tubig (stay hydrated, drink enough water); 7) umiwas sa bisyo. Iwasan ang alak at sigarilyo (avoid vices like alcohol and cigarettes); and 8) avoid chewing betel nuts as it may cause oral cancer.