El World Oral Health Day  calls every March 20 to raise awareness about the importance of oral health and implement good oral hygiene routines, regular dental checkups and healthy lifestyles to protect the mouth.

The celebration aims to empower people with the knowledge, tools and confidence to ensure good oral health.

The officialslogan of the campaign launched by the FDI World Dental Federation (FDI) for the period 2021-2023, is:  "Be proud of your mouth".  In other words, value it and take care of it. The FDI wants to inspire change by focusing on the importance of oral health to overall health, because good oral health can help you live a longer, healthier life. And that's something worth acting for.

According to the  World Health Organization (WHO), oral diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people. The main oral health disorders are: dental caries, periodontopathies, oral cancers, oral manifestations of HIV, oral trauma, cleft lip and palate, and noma (a serious gangrenous disease that starts in the mouth and mostly affects children). Most oral health disorders are largely preventable and can be treated in their early stages.

The burden of disease from oral and other non-communicable diseases can be reduced through public health interventions that target the most common risk factors.

These interventions include:

• promotion of a balanced diet, low in free sugars and including plenty of fruits and vegetables, with water as the main beverage;
• discontinuing tobacco use in all its forms;
• reducing alcohol consumption; and
• encouraging the use of protective equipment for sports, bicycles and motorcycles (to reduce the risk of facial trauma).

Sufficient exposure to fluoride is an essential factor in the prevention of caries. An optimal level of fluoride can be obtained from a variety of sources, including fluoridated drinking water, salt, milk and toothpaste. Brushing with fluoride toothpaste (1000 to 1500 ppm) twice a day should be encouraged.

This March 20, we invite you to join the global campaign to take action for oral health, with individual or collective actions. Remember: oral hygiene is also life. 

Facts and figures

• Oral diseases, although mostly preventable, are a major burden on the health sector in many countries and affect people throughout their lives, causing pain, discomfort, deformity and even death.
• It is estimated that these diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people.
• According to The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019), untreated dental caries in permanent teeth is the most prevalent health condition.
• Treatment of oral health conditions is expensive and is often not included in universal health coverage (UHC).
• Most low- and middle-income countries do not have sufficient prevention and treatment services for oral health conditions.
• Oral diseases are the product of several modifiable risk factors that are common to many noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as sugar intake, tobacco and alcohol consumption and poor hygiene, as well as their underlying social and commercial determinants.
  
  With information from Infomed and WHO.
  
  By: MSc. Dra. Patricia Alonso Galbán
  Communication Specialist of CSMC, S.A.