SOME professions and occupations experience an upsurge of activity around this time of the year. With dentistry, it is either dentures or cavities.
But even during this festive season with its deleterious element of promiscuous use of cakes, sweets and numerous other sugary foods, relative protection from dental caries and periodontal disease is attainable.
The key to having a healthy mouth has always been the effective control of dental plaque. However, the bottom-line consistently ends up being one’s personal attitude to oral health.
Common dental diseases can be controlled by individuals who are prepared to adopt the appropriate preventative behaviour. Therefore, improvements in oral health will be governed more by efficient and acceptable health education than clinical technology. No matter how much you may have easy access to the elaborate facilities in an updated dental office, together with your financial ability to pay for any instrument or drug to enhance your oral health status, you will never truly achieve acceptable oral health unless you are committed to a persistent attitude of correct practices based on appropriate education.
Although such a view may seem rational, it has not been accepted by many dental professionals who give clinical intervention far more rank than preventive care. Failure to change oral health behaviour is seen as the patient’s fault rather than the dentist’s. Such a point of view was the basis of much early clinically oriented research on compliance with preventive advice.
Indeed, the very term compliance has a certain pejorative tone, implying that health professionals expect obedience and acceptance of their advice by the lay public. Social scientists have examined the concept of compliance, and have suggested that it is a multifactorial problem. There are macro and micro components, which will influence the success or failure of dental health advice. The macro component examines the interaction between the dentist and the patient.
The dental services of the Government of Guyana promulgate preventative dental health education messages, namely:
Restrict sugar containing foods and drinks to meal time.
Clean the teeth and gums thoroughly everyday with fluoride toothpaste.
Consult a dentist for routine oral health screening at regular intervals.
The first message of controlling sugar intake is somewhat complex, and is contradicted by massive advertising by food manufacturers who promote the concept that sweet foods are natural and socially acceptable, plus sugar itself is linked to the demonstration of affection.
The strong social norms supporting sugar consumption can be seen at least in Georgetown, where vendors at many schools sell considerable quantities of highly cariogenic foods at break-time. The authorities may never express concern at this state of affairs. However, imagine the furor that would result if cigarette vending should suddenly be introduced into schools.
It is not difficult to appreciate the fact that dental professionals face an uphill task in convincing their patients to adopt a preventive attitude to dental disease when the commercial industry and tradition (get rid of the teeth and you get rid of the problem or dental problems don’t kill, so why worry) consistently work against the practitioner’s efforts.
I would like to encourage all readers of this column to make a New Year resolution to adopt a more serious attitude toward their oral health.
HAVE A HAPPY AND CARIES FREE FESTIVE SEASON!!
