Many Over 55s Regret Not Looking After Teeth While Younger

Thursday 28 June 2012 @ 6:04 am

New research from the UK shows that six out of every ten people who are 55 and over regret not looking after their teeth better while they were young. The level of regret is higher in people living in the North East of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The findings were published—together with a lot of other interesting oral health and dental statistics— by the British Dental Health Foundation as part of National Smile Month, which lasted from 20 May to 20 June 2012. National Smile Month in the UK is considered the biggest and most effective annual reminder of the importance of good oral health and is expected to reach around 50 million people.

Here’s where the regret comes from: People in UK rate their teeth and smiles as the second most important attraction feature after personality. Teeth and smile are considered the most important among body features, which included body shape, height, hair, face and eyes.

Despite those findings, the reality is that nearly one third of adults (31%) have tooth decay with three in every ten adults reporting regular dental pain. And two thirds of adults (66%) have visible plaque.

Affordability of dental care is an issue in the UK as well with 88 per cent of adults lacking dental insurance. Cost reasons make 63 per cent of adults use NHS dentists and 19 per cent of adults have delayed their treatment due to cost. Over one in four adults (26%) say that cost has an effect on the type of dental treatment they opt for. 19 per cent said that they had delayed dental treatment for the same reason. But, despite its less than perfect performance, people can go to NHS and get some service.

So what can people do to avoid regret when they are older?

Here’s the oral health message given during the National Smile Month:

Brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day using a fluoride toothpaste. People who only brush once a day are a third more likely to develop tooth decay.
Cut down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks.
Visit the dentist regularly – as often as they recommend because visiting the dentist annually can help reduce the risk of tooth decay by 60 per cent.
Other ways to improve oral health include:
Cleaning between teeth with interdental brushes or floss, at least once a day;
Using a mouthwash as part of the regular oral health routine;
Chewing sugar-free gum in between meals to help protect teeth throughout the day;
Cleaning dentures twice a day, if you wear dentures.

Contrast the above advice with what Americans are told regarding brushing—brush daily. How come we are not mentioning the need for brushing TWICE daily? And why not specify for how long people should brush? We feel that this little omission makes a huge difference in the oral and dental health of our nation.

These some things you can ponder on… during those long two minutes as you brush your teeth tonight.

A lot of articles on dental care, dental problems and treatments can be found in the FreeDentistFinder.com article archive.

If you need to find a dentist in your area, visit FreeDentistFinder.com and search out directory of quality dentists. A zip code search or a specialty search will help you narrow down your choice to find a dentist that practices at a nearby location.

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