Oral Health: HP2020 Impact Paper

Oral Health: HP2020 Impact Paper

Oral diseases prove to be a significant public health problem worldwide. Statistically, about 90% of school-aged children have experienced oral issues like dental caries, with the majority of them being in Asia and Latin America (Al-Darwish, 2016).  The American Dental Association, due to the high prevalence of oral health issues among children, recommends that to reduce oral diseases, individuals need to develop a discipline of brushing teeth after every meal and flossing at least once a day (Satish, 2016). Moreover, according to the association, regular dental checkups are also essential in reducing this overwhelming prevalence of oral diseases. It is also crucial that these practices be developed at an early age. In this paper, a review of the problem of oral health among school-aged children is presented. An analysis of the epidemiology of the issue, healthy people 2020 programs concerning the same, and prevention and health promotion plans are reviewed in detail in the subsequent sections.

Problem Overview

Oral health is an essential component of a nations healthcare system. This is mainly because dental diseases can cause massive health issues to the patient through their severely devastating effects. It is, however, worth notice that the problem can best be tackled by preventive and health promotion approaches than targeted treatment of reported cases. This is based on the fact that a failure to prevent oral issues can, in the end, result in the loss of teeth and other health complications that can be extremely costly to treat.

Prevention is better than treatment. Throughout life, it is always necessary that people seek dental care even in times when no specific disorders or diseases have been reported or suspected. However, many barriers and challenges are met on the journey to better dental care for all people, especially school-aged children. Precisely, African Americans, Hispanic residents, and those living in the poor states of the country are at a higher disadvantage. These groups are all disproportionate;y affected by untreated dental caries.

The complication of oral diseases, as already hinted, are many and complex. Oral diseases, from cancers of the oral cavity to dental caries cause pain and general disability among many Americans. Many systemic diseases like diabetes, renal failure and cardiovascular disorders always have oral manifestations. Therefore, regular checks can be helpful in the diagnosis of complicated systemic disorders that may not be easily detected by doter methods. Besides, those living with untreated oral conditions may experience difficulty speaking, eating, or smiling, which can affect social inclusion and mental health.

Epidemiological and Demographic Data

Only about 60% of adults have a culture of at least one dental visit per year. However, with this low proportion, about 90% of all American citizens have had dental caries at some point in their lives (Putzer, 2016). Also, more than a quarter of US residents have intreated dental caries, and they are living with it. This includes both adults and children. Whereas the share of adolescents and school-aged children receiving dental care appears to have increased to a commendable proportion of 83%, dental carries and other major health disorders related to the oral cavity are still ranked among the most prevalent chronic diseases observed in the US population (Putzer, 2016). The CDC estimates that 18% of children and adolescents 5-19 years have untreated dental caries.

Focusing on the District of Columbia, considerable work has been done to increase oral health surveillance capabilities and the use of data to generate sustainable programs for tackling the disease. Preliminary data suggests that 28% of the inhabitants still fail to access dental care (Putzer, 2016). The patterns are more observed among blacks, Hispanic residents, and the poor.

CDC reports even more elaborate figures. According to the CDC, tooth decay is one of the leading chronic conditions that plague American children. Generally, about 1 out of every five children have a least one untreated diseased tooth (“Oral Health | Healthy Schools | CDC”, 2020). Among the children from high-income families, the percentage of children with untreated oral diseases in the age bracket of 5 to 19 years is at around 20%. However, the rate doubles among children from low-income families, being that it stands at 25% (“Oral Health | Healthy Schools | CDC”, 2020). The statistics herein point to an urgent disease that deserves to be handled with urgency because of its ability to cripple a child’s present life and even the future experience of life and work. The knowledge that these diseases are treatable and preventable; nevertheless, gives hope that the issue can be mitigated.

HP2020

The Healthy people 2020 goals related to oral health are mainly centred on therapy, prevention and control. Specifically, the nation aims at preventing and controlling oral and craniofacial diseases and injuries; increasing access to and utilization of educational, preventive, and therapeutic services; and ensuring that residents accept and adopt the effective preventive measures recommended for oral diseases (Putzer, 2016). Accordingly, as stated by Putze,( 2016), the main objectives and targets include decreasing the number of emergency department visits related to oral health and increase the percentage of adults receiving preventive dental care to about 78%.

In this direction, the nation intends to attack the challenge by enforcing school-based oral hygiene assessment and reporting programs that shall include annual dental visits, untreated tooth decay, dental caries and dental sealants (“Oral Health | Healthy People 2020”, 2020). Secondly, it will increase the number of referrals from physicians who identify patients with oral health issues to dentists as a way of ensuring specialized dental care (“Oral Health | Healthy People 2020”, 2020). Finally, through a strategy or increasing population health monitoring related to emerging indicators like emergency department dental visits and perinatal oral visits, the government will reduce the devastating statistics further.

Prevention and Health Promotion

The increased threat of noncommunicable diseases and the increasing need for urgent and effective responses to these diseases promoted the development of a global strategy for preventive and promotive healthcare by the world health organization. This involved a risk-factor approach that primarily focussed on reducing the risk factors so that the possibility of such diseases is lowered (“WHO | Strategies and approaches in oral disease prevention and health promotion”, 2020). Healthy people 2020 objectives and strategies significantly borrow from the WHO strategy.

Higher risks of oral disease are related to socio-cultural determinants of health like poverty, limited education, imperfect traditions, beliefs and cultures that support oral health, and general ignorance. Communities exposed t fluorides in water and soil generally present with a higher risk of dental caries, especially in poverty-stricken settings. Thus, targeted through community education, increasing the number of rural health centres for easier visits, and provision d safe water is central in preventing oral diseases and promoting oral health.

Much evidence is present in favour of the risk-factor approach; the evidence mainly connects the prevention of dental caries and periodontal diseases to good personal hygiene practices like regular brushing and flossing, and community water fluoridation. The use of fluoride toothpaste and other chemical applications has also attracted much interest-based the fact that it is valid and cheaper (“WHO | Strategies and approaches in oral disease prevention and health promotion”, 2020)r. To crown all this, education of the masses remains the first practical approach. If this is not done, all the other measures will always be ignored.

References

Al-Darwish, M. (2016). Oral health knowledge, behaviour and practices among school children in Qatar. Dental Research Journal, 13(4), 342. doi: 10.4103/1735-3327.187885

Oral Health | Healthy People 2020. (2020). Retrieved 12 March 2020, from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/oral-health

Oral Health | Healthy Schools | CDC. (2020). Retrieved 12 March 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/npao/oralhealth.htm

Putzer, E. (2016). DC Healthy People 2020 Framework [Ebook] (1st ed., pp. 61-65). Retrieved from https://doh.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/doh/publication/attachments/FINAL%20DC%20HP2020%20Framework%20Report%205-23-16.pdf

Satish, V. (2016). Knowledge, Attitudes, and Oral Health Practices of School Children in Davangere. International Journal Of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, 9(2), 172-176. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1358

WHO | Strategies and approaches in oral disease prevention and health promotion. (2020). Retrieved 12 March 2020, from https://www.who.int/oral_health/strategies/cont/en/