With nearly 9 of 10 Filipinos suffering dental disease, DOH steps up oral health drive in schools

MANILA – Nearly nine of 10 Filipinos have dental caries, and worried health authorities are trying to bring that down by focusing on the younger generation.

The Department of Health’s National Capital Region office Friday unveiled plans to step up its oral health campaign in Metro Manila, with the director for DOH-NCR, Dr. Eduardo Janairo, noting the Philippines is far behind other countries in the Western Pacific Region concerning oral health.

 “The two most common oral health problems in the country are dental caries and periodontal diseases. These two dental concerns can be avoided by improving oral health conditions among pre-school children and inculcating a positive oral health behavior to children who will be entering school age,” added Janairo.

 The DOH-NCR is leading the promotion of oral hygiene through the prevention of dental caries among school-aged children, and providing dental sealants to children aged 12 and below who have healthy but erupted permanent molars.

Government data show 87.4 percent of Filipinos have dental caries, also known as tooth decay and cavity. The more advanced periodontal disease is a condition where the tissue – gums, deeper supporting tissue, and bone – around a tooth or teeth become infected and swollen. The  2011 National Monitoring and Evaluation Dental Survey (NMEDS) says 48.3 percent of Filipinos have periodontal disease.

Janairo said prevention “is a very important strategy in the promotion of oral health especially among school aged children,” because, when children are initiated into healthy behaviour early enough, “the practice is more likely to become sustainable and will hopefully continue as a life-long habit that will be passed on to their children.”

Meanwhile, DOH-NCR is collecting data and information on dental health concerns in Metro Manila in a bid to identify health facilities in the region where people with oral health concerns can be helped.

There are plans as well to ask help from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to give special attention to oral health and include it in their case rate identification, separate from all other diseases, according to Janairo.

The DOH-NCR oral health campaign was piloted at Santiago Syjuco Elementary School, where 181 school children received given dental sealant--applying a plastic material to a tooth in order to prevent dental caries or other forms of tooth decay.

Those who received the treatment will be monitored and documented every six months until they reach 12 years old.

Janairo said early loss of milk teeth can lead to incorrect or imperfect alignment of the permanent teeth. Untreated dental disease may bring inconvenient pain, which may affect a child´s performance in school, social interactions and health.

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