Dentistry News | Dental Jobs | Dentist Forum | CPD Education
Dental news |
 |
RSS Feed | View by: Most Recent | Most Popular | Most Discussed |
Major debate on state of the nation’s teeth
14th May 2008
Top dental experts, government ministers, MPs and Lords will debate the state of the nation's oral health tomorrow (Thursday).
Under the spotlight: how poor oral healthcare routines are leaving people at risk of serious health conditions including strokes, diabetes, heart disease and low birth weight babies.
The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) will also use the event to reveal the results of a national dental survey 2008.
The survey finds that people in the UK are failing to care for their teeth adequately and are ignorant, too, of the consequences to their general health.
The full results of the survey – conducted by the BDHF and Oral B – will be revealed at what is also the official launch of National Smile Month 2008 at the House of Commons.
This campaign is running simultaneously for the first time in the UK and USA (May 18-June 17).
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the BDHF, said: 'The public's awareness of the importance of good oral healthcare is very low indeed.
'The link between gum disease and conditions like heart disease, strokes, diabetes and, in the case of pregnant women, low birth weight babies has been well documented and is backed by robust scientific evidence.
'However, the survey found that only one in seven people realise that people with gum disease are at risk of strokes or diabetes, only one in four are aware of the heart disease link and just one in 15 know that pregnant women with gum disease are more likely to give birth prematurely!'
National Smile Month will be using a 'Brush for Health' tagline to increase public awareness of the health links between the mouth and the body.
For more information, go to www.nationalsmilemonth.org.
Rate this story
Comments
