High rates of oral diseases to be reduced with good hygiene practices

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

With Sri Lanka having high instances of oral diseases, top dental experts said at a discussion last week that good oral hygiene practices have to be inculcated among the population of the country to bring these rates down.

Pointing that the burden of oral diseases is immaculacy high, where its pain density is similar to that of labour pains during child birth or even heart attacks, Project Manager and National Coordinator of ‘Live Life Laugh’(LLL) Signal Association with the Dental Association Dr. Prasad Amaratunga said that dental carries is the most common disease in the world.

Speaking at a round table discussion hosted by the oral care team of Unilever Sri Lanka, Amaratunga said that while gum disease is as a high as the instances of dental caries, 30% of the population above the age of 60 in the country are affected with edentulous, a disease where a person have no teeth at all.

“These are serious problems as it is of great inconvenience to those who are affected,” he said and highlighted that when taking the total number of cavities in the country, Sri Lanka has over 30 million of it.

“Even if all the dentists in the country work non-stop for 24 hours straight on these issues, we still won’t be able to fix all. This is where the LLL program is prominent as it is designed to prevent oral diseases altogether and help educate the public on these diseases,” Amaratunga expressed.

Sharing further insights on the instances of dental caries, he pointed that 65% of children falling under the five to six year age group are affected with this disease while 40% of children aged 12 and below are affected with the same. Amaratunga also revealed that 75% of the children under the age of 12 are affected with gum diseases.

Amongst adults, he said that with 67% of the population of developing nations being affected with oral cancer, 25% of Sri Lankan have this disease and it is identified that it is the number one cancer among men in the country.

Due to the increasing habits of smoking, alcohol consumption, and betel chewing, Amaratunga stressed that Sri Lanka has one of the world’s highest rates of oral cancer.  

On that backdrop he said: “Large number of dental diseases are preventable, we need to know how to address this since if it goes to the stage where cure is required, it will be difficult”

Pointing that all it takes to avoid many dental diseases is brushing twice a day, he said introducing the habit to the younger generation is easier than doing so to the older.

Adding to this, Sri Lanka Dental Association (SLDA) President Dr. Suresh Shanmuganathan said: “Brushing twice daily with a fluoride tooth paste is important for good oral hygiene.”

While sharing technical details on how fluoride works, it coating the enamel of the tooth preventing germs and bacteria acting on it, he noted that higher the fluoride content, the better.

However, Shanmugananthan stressed that the ingestion of fluoride has harmful affects to the internal organ of the body, thus swallowing it should be avoided as much as possible.

While emphasising the need to brush daily, though advertisements show bristles of the toothbrushes generously filled with paste, he stressed that only a pea sized blob should be used. “You do not need much.

 The more paste you have on your toothbrush, the chances of you consuming it will be high. This is not good,” Shanmugananthan said.

He also pointed that for children under the age of 12, systemic fluoride helps in teeth development thus brushing should be encouraged as early as possible.

Sharing how to get the maximum affects of fluoride from tooth paste, he said that one should not rinse the mouth too much after brushing and should refrain from consuming food and drinks for at least an hour. Shanmugananthan said that doing so will cause the fluoride to wash away and the purpose of using fluoride toothpaste will be lost.

Pix by Lasantha Kumara