Dental Health Week 5-11 August 2013. Young Adults: 18-30 Years

This year Dental health week focuses on the young adults who have left school and are working or going onto further education. Their parents may have been on their backs to have regular dental care, but, as life changes with more independence, so does the dental care and maintenance.

Lifestyle factors that will be considered this week include:

Poor diet and oral hygiene leading to dental decay and gum disease

It’s the every day habits that causes life long changes that are often difficult to treat. The dentist can only help you help yourself. Here are a couple of blogs that may be helpful.

• Diet is the key – The bad and the ugly
• Diet is the key – The good and the clean

Tooth erosion from sport drinks, energy drinks as well as soft drinks

Sports drinks are highly acidic and many people allow the drink to just sit in their mouths. This causes the surface of the teeth to dissolve away for good. The protective enamel layer thins out and eventually the teeth look yellow. These drinks also soften the normally hard wearing enamel so over time it literally wears away and can also leads to sensitivity as the next layer of the tooth (the dentine is exposed). This blog may be helpful: Dental for sports

Oral piercings – lip, tongue – damaging teeth

These additions to the human body are not necessarily designed to co-exist with the body. Tongue studs often crack the cusps (points of the back teeth) and even collect hardened amount of bacteria that can irritate the floor of the mouth.

Smoking, gum disease, and cancer

This addictive habit is a destructive game changer. Cancer is insidious and when it is noticed is often too late, not just for that person but those around them. Some oral cancers are very destructive to the appearance of the person and some can kill you. Smoking also dries out you mouth and leads to an increase in decay and loss of bone around teeth. Oh, I almost forgot , it stains your teeth. See: Oral Cancer.

Alcohol in relation to trauma and violence

Excessive drinking leads to a loss of control which then leads to fights or just plain falling on your face. There goes that front tooth or broken jaw that could affect your bite.

Impacted wisdom teeth needing removal

The getting of wisdom is not meant to be this painful, but this is the age when the third molars erupt into the mouth. Not all of these teeth need to be removed and sometimes they do not form. However they do need to be assessed to determine whether they need to be removed and what methods of removal would be best for each person, i.e general or local anaesthetics or sedation. There are warnings that need to be considered for the lower teeth.

Affects on drug use on the mouth e.g. ‘Meth Mouth’

This drug causes diet changes (as well as other changes!) that lead to a craving for sugar. Extensive decay and loss of teeth can be devastating for a young person.

These and other topics, as well as more information such as the “Oral Survival Guide” can be found at www.dentalhealthweek.com.au

The aim of the campaign is that young people think they are indestructible but their lifestyle choices now will affect their teeth and mouth and sometimes even their lives forever (not to mention the rest of their body).

Next week: What Nurses Do – Part 1