Are We Neglecting Our Children's Oral Health?

If we do not expect to lose a limb, then why do we expect that losing one or more teeth during our lifetime is normal?

The focus of Dental Health Week 2021 (2-8 August) is the importance of taking steps to care for your teeth and gums to help you keep your teeth, and your smile, for life. 

In 2020, COVID-19 created a roadblock for our association to truly celebrate Dental Health Week and better involve our community in what we do to service them. This year, we’re able to fully embrace the occasion and will be rolling out various initiatives to engage and inform the public about oral health.

It is more important than ever that people consider how every aspect of their health is affecting them. Many of us have had to postpone and reschedule dentist appointments endless times with lockdowns and restrictions in play and the media noise of COVID is overshadowing other important health messages.

Children’s oral health is a vital focus of our branch this Dental Health Week as many parents and caregivers aren’t aware of how fragile the developing mouth is. Babies should have their first dental check up from the eruption of their first tooth and then every 6 months thereafter. There is a common misconception that “baby teeth don’t matter” because they just fall out anyway. However, our soon-to-be released informative videos in collaboration with SA Dental show that baby teeth are vital to the development and alignment of adult teeth.

The video campaigns will be released via our social channels and provide much needed insight to parents who are unsure of the oral care that their little ones require. No matter what their socio-economic background, South Australian residents have access to a variety of affordable dental care options that organisations like us, SA Dental and the Adelaide University Dental School provide.

The Australian Dental Association’s (ADA) 2020 National Consumer Survey of around 25,000 people released today for Dental Health Week (2-8 August) found that 4 in 10 parents report their children under 17 years drink 2 - 5 soft drinks a week, despite 83% knowing such drinks can lead to tooth decay. A sizeable number of parents also appear to be unaware that fruit juice can lead to tooth decay. This is just one of many surprising outcomes from this survey that we are now taking action to try and combat.

We encourage people and families to build positive relationships with their dentists by being open about any concerns and making regular appointments. Dentists tend to be burdened by a negative stigma that can cause patients to have a lot of anxiety and apprehension. 

What you may not know is that Dentists are required by law to continually develop throughout their entire career in both scientific practice and in their business and interpersonal skills. As an association for Dentists, our goal is to facilitate this required learning and give our members the skills to excel technically and in the way they communicate with patients. Trusting that your dentist has your best interests at heart allows ultimately allows them to provide you with the highest level of care.

In rural areas throughout South Australia, oral health education is scarcer and access to dentists can be limited. To help keep parents in more remote areas on top of their children’s dental care, some of our members are assisting us with a colouring in competition in their local primary schools. Students will win educational dental toys and be provided with information about their local dentists so that we can bring oral health to the forefront.

ADA South Australia President, Dr Angelo Papageorgiou said that good oral health starts at an early age and should be maintained throughout adult life.

“Children should visit the dentist from the time of the eruption of their first tooth and on at least an annual basis to establish good oral health care and habits. Adults too should be having regular check-ups with their local dentist to ensure that minor and often undetected oral health issues do not turn into much worse conditions in the future.”

“It should not be acceptable to lose teeth at any age and most oral health conditions such as tooth decay and gingivitis as common as they are, are entirely preventable. This is important as good oral health has such strong correlation to good overall health and wellbeing of adults in Australia.”

If you or anyone you know are looking for a dentist, use the ‘Find A Dentist’ feature on our website to pick from over 900 dentists throughout SA. For more information about Dental Health Week and our association, visit www.adasa.asn.au.

The President of the Australian Dental Association SA Branch, Dr Angelo Papageorgiou is available for media interviews. Please contact Alessia Marrapodi via email at [email protected] for media requests.