Monday is World Oral Health Day - “Be Proud of Your Mouth”

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – World Oral Health Day (WOHD) 2023 this year will be observed on Monday, 20 March under the theme: “Be Proud of Your Mouth.”

According to the last edition of the Global Oral Health Status Report published by the World Health Organization, almost half of the world’s population (45 percent or 3.5 billion people) suffer from oral diseases.

Oral health is important for overall health, and prevention, early detection, and treatment of oral diseases is important to stop any negative effects on the rest of the body.

Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department within the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), calls on the community to not neglect oral health as oral diseases can be prevented and treated.

Oral health means the health of the mouth. A healthy mouth allows you to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch, chew, swallow, and convey a range of emotions with confidence and without pain, discomfort, and disease. No matter what your age – 5, 25, 65, or 85 years – oral health is vital to your general health and well-being.

Oral diseases are the most common noncommunicable disease (NCD) and affect people throughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement, and disfigurement.

Behavioral risk factors for oral diseases are shared with other major NCDs, such as an unhealthy diet high in free sugars, tobacco use, and the harmful use of alcohol.

WOHD is an international day to celebrate the benefits of a healthy mouth and to promote worldwide awareness of the issues surrounding oral health and the importance of oral hygiene.

To reduce oral diseases, it is up to you to take preventative measures.

Twice-daily tooth brushing with fluoride-containing toothpaste (1000 to 1500 ppm) is encouraged. Long-term exposure to an optimal level of fluoride results in substantially lower incidence and prevalence of tooth decay across all ages.

Eat a well-balanced diet low in sugar; eat adequate amounts of fruit and vegetables which may have a protective role in oral cancer prevention; and reduce smoking and alcohol consumption.