The Hindu : New Delhi News : Concern over growing dental disease in India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 05, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Concern over growing dental disease in India

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 4. The Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI), the global organisation of dentistry with its headquarters in France and representing more than seven lakh dentists in over 130 countries, has expressed concern over the growing incidence of dental disease in India.

The president of the FDI World Dental Federation, Heung Ryul Yoon, said for a developing country like India, preventive measures and awareness among children and community at large was the best solution for dental disease as the actual treatment is prohibitively expensive.

Dr. Yoon, who was here to announce the conduct of the Annual World Dental Congress at Pragati Maidan from September 10 to 13, said isolated studies conducted in India have reported that 60 per cent to 80 per cent of children suffer from dental caries, while gum diseases are highly prevalent in adult population in the range of 90 per cent to 95 per cent. Besides, he said, Malocclusion is affecting 30 to 40 per cent of the children.

The incidence of oral cancer was also high with oral cancer constituting 35 to 40 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in the entire body and children constituting between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of all oral cancer cases. Most of these, the doctor said, can be prevented by following simple health measures since the causative factors of the disease are well-known.

The dentist said it is essential to prevent these diseases because early loss of molar teeth leads to crippling of oral cavity and chewing apparatus and thereby affects nutrition at large. Thus to reduce morbidity and morality it is important that full compliment of teeth is maintained in full functional environment, Dr. Yoon said.

The executive director of FDI, J.T. Bernard, said the organisation through its dental aid programme in developing countries and better oral health in deprived communities is launching several oral health programmes for people world wide to prevent growing incidence of dental disease. In this regard, Dr. Barnard said, the FDI Congress would synergise and stimulate the implementation of the existing activities to achieve the goal for oral health set by the FDI and World Health Organisation for 2020.

The president of Dental Council of India, R.K. Bali, said all dental colleges in the country will remain closed during the period of the FDI Congress to facilitate the attendance of all those related to the profession in the meet.

The chairman of the organising committee, L.K. Gandhi, said the purpose of the meeting is to bring awareness among the people of India about the existing infrastructure related to dental issues and the advances made in the field of oral health. He stressed on the need for implementing strict health norms, including prohibition of smoking at public places, for preventing causation of dental diseases.

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