Oral Health Month launched

Nov 02, 2016 News

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– emphasis on promotion through education

Under the theme “promoting oral health through education,” the Ministry of Public Health’s

Dental Services yesterday launched Oral Health Month. The event which was held at Independence Park (formerly Parade Ground) followed a march from the National Park.
A number of pupils participated in the march and they helped to emphasize the importance of good oral health
The participating pupils were also eligible for free dental checks, as were members of the public.
In fact according to Dental Surgeon, Dr. Shameer Ali, free dental checks, including cleaning and extraction, will continue today between the hours of 09:00 hours and 15:00 hours at the Cheddi Jagan Dental Centre.
Declaring the event open yesterday was Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings, who emphasized that taking care of one’s mouth is an essential activity that unfortunately many take for granted. As such, she noted that “I must commend the organizers of this very timely and relevant event for bringing much needed awareness of the issue of maintaining good oral health.”
In order to change society’s behaviour towards oral health, the Minister underscored the

need to ensure that effective learning takes place, even as she pointed out that good oral health can serve to improve a person’s ability to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch, chew, swallow, and make facial expressions to show feelings and emotions.
However, she noted that oral diseases, from cavities to oral cancer, cause significant pain and disability for many persons. As such she stressed that good self-care, such as brushing with fluoride toothpaste, daily flossing, and professional treatment, is key to good oral health.
According to Minister Cummings, “many people delay and even skip visits to the dentist due to anxiety, fear, and the cost for dental visits.”
Of concern to the Minister is the fact that some people continue to find it very difficult to understand and use health information, a skill known as health literacy. She informed that it has been proven that inadequate health literacy is one of the key reasons why many persons avoid the dentist, a phenomenon that contributes to poor oral health in rural, low-income, and vulnerable populations.
“Good oral health is extremely important as the opposite position has been linked with major health problems, such as diabetes and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases,” said the Minister as she noted that “the negative impact and burden of oral disease often fall heaviest on rural, low-income persons.”

According to the Minister, “we must do all that is necessary to change this unfavourable situation…This is where effective education programmes become necessary.”
Over the years, the Government of Guyana has implemented a number of strategies to ensure that Guyanese benefit from the excellent professional oral health service that exists in Guyana. The Ministry of Public Health, Minister Cummings said, continues to work tirelessly to ensure that all Guyanese have equal and equitable access to the best quality health care possible, including oral health care.
As such, the Minister stressed the importance of education, even as she reiterated that learning the correct ways to personally care for and maintain good oral health is essential. Knowing when professional help is needed is also very critical to how one manages the oral health issues with which one is afflicted, the Minister added.
“You are never too young or too old to learn about appropriate dental care. It is important to note that proper oral health is important at any age and should target every person in the society,” said the Minister
She therefore pointed to the importance of Guyanese becoming informed about the virtues of good oral health, an undertaking that requires a multi-stakeholder approach. And according to Minister Cummings, the Public Health Ministry is committed to working with all concerned stakeholders to ensure that oral health literacy is spread across the country.
Broadly, health literacy refers to skills that establish a person’s motivation and ability to access, process, and use information to promote and maintain good health. Moreover, oral health literacy refers to the capacity of a person to source, process, and understand the basic information needed to make decisions about oral health, according to Minister Cummings.
She added that increasing interest in health literacy is driven by evidence showing association between health literacy and outcomes. The Minister continued by noting that “low health literacy is associated with poor health knowledge, unhealthy behaviours, low usage of preventive services, poor health status, and high hospitalization rates.”
Minister Cummings disclosed too that a growing body of evidence indicates that people without the requisite health literacy skills to make sound health decisions in their everyday lives are more vulnerable and have poorer health outcomes.
She therefore concluded that it is vital that “we use this period to step up our programmes that promote health literacy. An educated people results in a healthy nation…Therefore, our efforts at providing learning opportunities must be significantly increased during this month and maintained henceforth.”
Yesterday’s forum was also graced by a representative of Colgate Palmolive Limited which has been collaborating with the Ministry’s Dental Services for a number of years.
The launch of Oral Health Month also entailed an exhibition which showcased literature and measures that can be utilized to help improve oral health.

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