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Phil Wiley

Despite decades of mass education around health issues in general, the importance of dental health remains poorly understood. Many people do not know, for example, that dental problems can be the cause of a range of conditions including migraines, long-term fatigue and neuralgia. Even a toothache can quickly turn septic, leading to blood poisoning and, if left untreated, death. The truly amazing thing about dental health, however, is that it is so easy to maintain the health of your mouth and dental structures. Not counting accidents or trauma, the only thing that causes dental structures to break down is bad oral hygiene and poor diet (see plaque below).

For most people, the oral cavity (mouth) is a mysterious place. It is difficult to see and it changes throughout life's stages from childhood, to middle age and through into old age. Teeth seem to come and go in a bewildering pattern of events, giving rise to a number of popular myths that see some people convinced that their child had '12 rows of teeth like a shark'. Overcrowding, bleeding gums, extra long teeth and 'black stumps' are perfectly explainable in terms of hygiene and heredity. Nevertheless, popular stories abound that are designed to excuse the condition on a range of grounds that deflect the blame from the family or individual who, most often, simply has poor oral hygiene.

The good news is that, notwithstanding some hereditary conditions, dental disease can be so easily prevented. Prevention requires daily brushing and flossing and a conscious effort to avoid sweet, sticky foods that lie around the teeth and gums. Generally, the reason most people see a dentist is because they have toothache. This is much like locking the gate after the horse has bolted. If more people visited the dentist regularly, as part of their annual health plan, dental disease would not be the most prevalent disease in the world.