How bad is tooth decay?

Dennie Quill, Columnist

Oh no, please spare us another toothless interviewee. It would seem that the most vocal people in this country are all missing their teeth.

A lively discussion has ensued around the water cooler this week about the number of toothless sages who appear to have carved out their niche in prime-time television news. They don't make the social pages, but the toothless ones are ever present when it is time to illuminate the problems afflicting persons in various communities.

Reactions to these toothless figures range from amusement to disgust. But despite the comedic overtones, we must face up to the fact that a significant part of the Jamaican population is plagued with rotten teeth and suffers from poor oral health.

At a time when the world is so focused on image and achieving healthy smiles, there are new treatment options such as fillings, root canals and implants, with false teeth being the least attractive. Private dental care is expensive, and without insurance many people cannot afford it.

New targets for dental care

However, if we are to claim success in a free national health-care programme, dental health has to become a major component. And the new minister of health, being a dentist himself, must surely understand the urgency of the matter. Working along with the dental association and affiliates, the country has to set some new targets for dental care, particularly in rural communities.

What are some of the barriers to oral health? Once upon a time, the lack of fluorination was seen as a problem, since water fluoridation is recognised as a successful method of decreasing dental diseases. Fluorinated water is now commonplace, and there are several brands of fluorinated toothpaste on the market.

The lack of education could also account for poor oral hygiene. If more people were aware of the impact bad teeth have on their general health outlook, perhaps they would pay greater attention to the condition of their mouths. For instance, the experts warn that gum disease can threaten the heart, and that loose teeth and persistent gum bleeding could signal blood disorders. Dental-health experts add that nearly everything that is happening in the body can be revealed in the fluids in the mouth, from saliva to mucus, and the plaque on one's teeth.

Schools have a major role in educating children about the importance of oral health. Dental screening and other related programmes need to be heightened to get the message across to more people in rural communities.

Institutions like the Church and other non-governmental organisations need to play an active role in encouraging persons to take their dental health in hand. The trusted general practitioner and other front-line health professionals also need to stress the importance of dental health.

Improving mobility, access

There is also the question of access. There never seem to be enough dentists to go around, and their practices tend to be concentrated in the urban areas. Thankfully, we have started to train our own dentists in Jamaica, and hopefully we will see marked improvement in oral care throughout the country. Some of these dentists-in-training could be deployed to communities to conduct examinations of persons with dental-health problems.

People who are knowledgeable about the ill effects of untreated dental diseases and who can pay for such treatment are likely to fare better than the poorer members of society. Sadly, the latter are in the majority.

With a sugar-heavy diet, tooth decay is a significant public-health problem in Jamaica, and we need a national strategy to deal with this problem. We have successfully eradicated a number of communicable diseases by developing a whole range of measures, and we should now turn our attention to dental care by targeting communities where oral-health discipline is weakest and try to raise their standards and improve their health and well-being.

Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.