Ever rising issues pertaining to oral health

1) Choice of dentifrice and tooth brush

• Dentifrice (toothpaste or tooth powder) is often one of the first items to enter the body, therefore it is very important to choose the right one. Toothpaste is less biocompatible with the body compared to tooth powders. Shift to tooth powders to clean your teeth.

• There are multiple types and brands of toothbrushes, so it could get confusing. Assuming you are brushing every day, just stick to soft or ultra-soft toothbrushes. Medium and hard toothbrushes are for hardened plaque and can sometimes be harsh on the gums. Remember, toothbrushes are a major contributor to receding gums, so softer the better. It is important to know that major cleaning is done by the mechanical action produced by the toothbrush. Toothpaste advertisements showing users to squeeze an aesthetic one full-length brush head of toothpaste is not necessary. You can also clean your teeth with just a soft toothbrush and water every day; but using a dentifrice along with it adds freshness and the necessary minerals.

• Alternatively, you can clean your teeth with neem or miswak sticks. This is old school, efficient, and highly biocompatible. However, it might be harsh for the present generation’s delicate darlings—including me.

2) Restorative care dominating the preventive care

• Many dentists resort to restorative care over preventive care as it pays them more money than preventive care. It would be unfair to blame just them, as they would have to pay their rents, AC bills, clinic investments, and put food on the table for the family. So they would rather provide the consumer with a harmless-to-health restorative treatment, but a harmful treatment to the patient’s wallet. A simple stern preventive advice is actually good enough, but is often not pursued. This is because even the patient or consumer walking into a clinic wants their money’s worth and often feels that if no treatment or medicine is prescribed, one views them as a 'bad' doctor. More focus, funding, policies, treatment, education, etc. should be given to preventive care and less to restorative care. This applies to everybody involved—industry, professionals, population, etc.

• Mind you, restorative care is life-saving and highly efficient in critical conditions. One should not get confused about its importance.

3) Consumer products

• Up to 18 years of age, just like alcohol and cigarettes—ban sugar and all types of products containing it. Sounds difficult, but it is very important for oral and overall general health of the human population going forward.

• Oral care consumer products are too many and toxic. The barrier to entry, at least in India, is low. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can place an order from a Chinese manufacturing company and market them in India. One can package sand and market it to consumers as a dentifrice. It’ll clean the teeth and provide the minerals, but the teeth might not age well. The point here is, oral care companies are encouraging consumer culture more and educating consumers less; when in reality it should be the other way around. In the interest of consumers, the regulation should be stricter on product based companies. 

4) Disjointed oral and systemic health ecosystems 

• The gut and the oral cavity are directly correlated. Without wanting to sound far-fetched, everything in the body is related. The human body seems to be functioning as one intricately well-connected machine. So, the oral and general health ecosystems not working in tandem is actually a disappointing fact. Steps like integrating bachelor degrees of both medical and dentistry should be taken right away by academic policymakers.

• Doctors and dentists should collaborate regulalry with respect to patient care.

• The general population should also look at the mouth as the mirror of the body. it reveals signs of underlying systemic health issues. In both restoration and prevention, observing the oral cavity can be key. 

5) Fluoride

• Fluoride does a very good job in remineralizing teeth. But the cost at which this benefit comes is shocking. Fluoride is not inert and gets accumulated in different parts of the body like the brain, kidney, bones, etc. for years. Suitable alternatives like inert amorphous silica from rice husk ash should be given attention by the industry and policymakers.