The slogan for Dental Health Week 2018 says it all. Don’t focus on just your teeth or gums, but try to take better care of your whole mouth in general.
That might sound obvious but Dental Health Week 2018 is going back to basics this year, due in part to the publication of the 2018 National Oral Health Report in March. This report, which you can read more about in our May blog post, revealed a lot of disappointing statistics regarding the oral health and habits of everyday Australians. For example, only 50% of Australians brush their teeth twice a day, while nearly 40% never floss or clean in-between their teeth!
Key messages
If Australians don’t keep up good oral health practices, they are putting themselves at risk of a number of oral health problems and complications. So for Dental Health Week this year, the Australian Dental Association (ADA) would like all Australians to take note of and share the following key messages:
- Brush your teeth twice daily, morning and night, with a fluoride toothpaste.
- Clean in-between your teeth once daily with floss or an interdental brush.
- Eat and drink a healthy diet, and limit your sugar intake to less than 10% of your total energy intake. The WHO sugar recommendation for adults and active children aged 2-18 is no more than 6 teaspoons per day. To put that amount into perspective, one can of soft drink contains about 7 teaspoons of sugar!
- Visit your dentist regularly for check-ups and preventative treatment, such as scale & cleans.
How to play your part
Dental Health Week is a time to reflect on what we have been doing, or not doing, to maintain the oral health of ourselves and our loved ones. It also gives us a fresh opportunity to renew and focus better on our oral health goals, and those of the children we teach and care for.
Visit dentalhealthweek.com.au for more oral health information, activities and educational resources for kids and students. Lastly, have a great Dental Health Week from the TC Dental team!
