The best way to promote good oral hygiene is to brush twice a day and floss at least once a day, ensuring that both your teeth and gums are well looked after.
However, as the cost of living crisis rumbles on and deepens around us day by day, it seems that our dental health may be at risk, with toothbrushes seemingly being seen as a “luxury item” for growing numbers.
Speaking to the British Medical Journal, Dr Camilla Kingdon – president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health – made this observation, going on to say that dental health in children is now a “national disgrace” and that tooth extraction being the most common reason for childhood general anaesthesia was a “terrible admission of failure”.
She went on to say that the state of children’s teeth is a reflection of their diet, but also their family’s ability to purchase necessary items like toothpaste and toothbrushes, the Independent reports.
Figures show that tooth decay is, in fact, the main reason for hospital admissions of five to nine-year-olds in England, with Dr Kingdon saying that this latest development is “simple but very visible, alarming evidence of how the[crisis] is impacting children’s health”.
Although tooth decay is a highly preventable condition, it is still a serious problem in this country, with stats from Public Health England showing that in 2015, 25 per cent of five-year-olds had experienced tooth decay, with three to four teeth on average affected.
High levels of disease in children’s primary teeth increase their risk of disease in their permanent teeth. The risk of tooth decay increases if children follow a poor diet and if they brush their teeth less than twice a day using fluoride toothpaste.
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