Oral Health Reports

Oral Health Reports

Oral health is an essential part of general health in humans. An analysis of the reports from the surgeon general’s 2000 report and the 2010 report of the center for disease control and prevention shows that demographics have changed compare to past assessments. From the reports, people with the least access to preventive services and dental treatment have greater rates of oral disease. Generally, people who come from families that live below the poverty level experience twice as much dental decay compared to those who come from families that economically better. More than a third of poor children below the age of 9 show at least one untreated decayed primary tooth.

The reports also indicate that there are social determinants, which affect oral health. From the data, people with lower levels of education and people from specific racial and ethnic backgrounds exhibit high oral disease rates. In as much as 40 % of Americans reported having dental insurances, it was noted that most of them lose their insurances when they retire.

Oral and pharyngeal cancers were also a common subject of concern, according to the two reports. For people who have pharyngeal cancers, in the United States, for example, they have a mortality rate of 1 in 4 individuals based on yearly diagnoses. Most of the mortality based on the surgeon general’s 2000 report is observed in older people above 55 years. Survival rates for the blacks have been reported to be higher compared to white Americans according to the report from both the CDC 2010 report and the surgeon general’s 2000 report. There were also observed successes in the reduced number of cases in the overall oral health diseases. The two reports attributed the success to the fluoridation of water, which benefits 7 out of 10 Americans. There has also been an increase in dentists, although the dentist to patient ratio remains low.

References

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Oral health in America: A report of the surgeon general. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research,. NIH publication 00-4713. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from: http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/sgr/oralhealth.asp.

US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2010) Oral health: Preventing cavities, gum disease, tooth loss, and oral cancers. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11862.