It is estimated that oral diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people world-wide(source: Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2018; 392: 1789–8583).
Oral diseases pose a major health burden for many countries and affect people throughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death. These diseases share common risk factors with other major non-communicable diseases (source: United Nations General Assembly. Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases. Resolution A/66/L1. 2011).
Oral cancer (cancer of the lip or mouth) is one of the three most common cancers in some countries of Asia and the Pacific (source: Ferlay J EM, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I, Bray F. Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Today. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. Published 2018. Accessed 14 September, 2018).
More than 530 million children suffer from dental caries of primary teeth (milk teeth).
Most oral health conditions are largely preventable and can be treated in their early stages.
Dental decay is caused by the things we eat and drink. Consumables such as chocolate, sweets, fizzy drinks and fruit juices all generate plaque acids that gradually dissolve away the enamel and dentine of the tooth (source: Oral Health Foundation).
A child in England (UK) has a rotten tooth removed in hospital every ten minutes, which is around 141 children a day (source: Public Health England statistics - 6th April 2018).
Having frequent sugary snacks and drinks can increase the risk of decay, because your teeth come under constant attack and do not have time to recover (source: Oral Health Foundation).
Untreated dental caries (tooth decay) in permanent teeth is the most common health condition(source: Global Burden of Disease 2017).
Added and hidden sugars are commonly found in processed food and fruit, and are a threat to our teeth. The more sugar you consume, the likelier the chances of obtaining dental decay (source: Oral Health Foundation).
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