This Week

How does our attitude to life affect the health of our teeth?

With the improvement of people's living standard and the expansion of our knowledge base, we are getting more and more concerned with our health. And, oral health and related diseases which have long been neglected starts to catch our attention. Actually, oral health and physical health are very much related.

In early years, dental service pinpointed mainly on teeth treatment and simple oral care. Since people knew little about dental care, many of us had considerable misconceptions about dental diseases. For instance, some believe that as we get older, our teeth will decay sooner or later; whereas, some others deem that we only need to seek dental consultation when our teeth are in pain. These fallacies make us even more scared and drive us away from seeking proper treatment.

Indeed, our attitude and behavior in daily life have much to do with the effectiveness of dental treatment. According to the survey conducted by the Centre For Health Protection from April to May 2006, merely thirty percent of the 2,000 interviewees reckoned that their oral health was good. Sixty percent of them thought that their oral health was satisfactory and twelve percent saw their oral conditions as bad. The Centre also pointed out that over 90 percent of oral cancers could be attributed to smoking. Besides, the survey found out that a majority of adults believe that regular dental check-up was not necessary. Yet, most of them had experienced different kinds of oral health ills, including bad breath, gum bleeding, sensitive teeth and low sleep quality caused by teeth pain.

As you can see, to have healthy teeth, we should develop good living habits. Moreover, if dentists know more about the teeth conditions of patients, they can help patients prevent and treat dental diseases more easily.

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