8th National Dental Health Month: DOH-7 encourages proper oral hygiene

CEBU, Philippines - In celebration of the 8th National Dental Health Month, the Philippine Dental Association Cebu Chapter and Department of Health Region 7 are advocating and encouraging people to observe proper oral hygiene to prevent diseases that can be developed from bad teeth as they stressed the importance of taking care of the teeth.

Dr. Philip Yray, Jr., Dentist III of the Department of Health - 7 and the Philippine Dental Association emphasized their information dissemination on the need to take proper care of the teeth because based on their latest survey, 92% of the people out of 100% have dental caries and 78% have periodontal disease.

They explained that this year-round program encourages people to give importance to their teeth which is tagged as the most neglected part of the body even if they are very essential to people’s lives.

The organization emphasized that brushing the teeth at least twice a day specially before going to sleep help in the prevention of oral diseases which can cause serious diseases in the kidneys, lungs and the heart.

In stressing the importance of teeth, Dr. Rodivick Docor, past president of the Philippine Dental Association, Cebu Chapter and the dean of the College of Dentistry of Southwestern University, said that without teeth, there would be no proper chewing.

Without proper chewing, there would be no proper nutrition and without proper nutrition, life would be at risk.

He also pointed out that the teeth are important in speech and for the alignment of these in the mouth.

Having dental examinations with your dentist every 6 months also prevents infections.

Aside from the information dissemination program, the DOH has prepared other activities to help the people in their dental issues including services offered by government health centers in the barangays, at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and at the Cebu City Health office.

The DOH-7 and PDA also offer more services such as their mobile dental clinic with free dental examinations, permanent fillings, health instructions for infants and breastfeeding to the pregnant women.

They also have an activity dubbed as “Adopt an Orphanage Program” aside from activities designed for senior citizens and also slogan and poster-making contests for the Oral Health Month.

Aside from brushing and visiting the dentist, they also encourage proper diet. They stressed the need to eat the right foods and avoid foods that can cause toothaches like sodas or sticky and sweet foods which are high risks in dental caries.

   Drinking lots of water after eating and rinsing the mouth with water to keep it clean was also highlighted. — (FREEMAN)