Dental health

Dental health is also known as oral health which is the vital indicator of comprehensive health,
well being and quality of life. According to World Health Organization (WHO) oral health is a
state of being free from chronic mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral infections
and sores, gum diseases, tooth loss and decay and other disorders that restrict an individual’s
capacity in chewing, biting, speaking, smiling and psychological well being (Glick, et.al, 2017).

Dental hygiene

Dental hygiene is the practice of keeping the mouth clean and free from other diseases and
other mouth problems like halitosis by regular brushing of the teeth and cleaning between the
teeth. Taking a good care of individual’s mouth, gums and teeth is an admirable goal in itself. It
is important because good oral and dental hygiene can help to prevent bad breath, tooth decay
and gum disease. A good dental hygiene should be maintain by individual own self in daily
practices by brushing the teeth after meals, using anti microbial mouth wash and flossing at
least once per day. Brushing the teeth safeguards the removal of plaque which is the primary
cause for tooth decay and gum diseases and also helps to arrests the build up of any plaque
formation (Pitts, et.al, 2017). All these practices in daily living help to keep the disease causing
bacteria away from reproducing inside the mouth and causing tooth decay. Maintaining the
teeth is not only about looking good but the poor dental hygiene can lead to problems bigger
than troublesome smile (Almoznino, et.al, 2015). Dental problems such as gum diseases or
cavities can diminish an individual’s ability to eat and speak properly, cause pain and bad
breath. People even do not comprehend that poor dental hygiene can have negative
consequences on the areas outside the mouth which includes diabetes, heart, pregnancy,
chronic inflammation. Studies reveals that gum bacteria can travel to heart causing heart
diseases like stroke. A gum infection is also associated with the premature births and low birth
weight in the pregnant women (Mabry, 2019). Similarly, diabetes curtails the body resistance to
infection making the gums more vulnerable to infection which can adversely affect the blood
sugar. Therefore, practicing a good dental hygiene is important because it helps to prevent
from oral disease and dental problems.
Dental therapy

A dental therapy is the way of providing the preventative and restorative dental care, usually
for children and adolescents. It is provided by a dental therapist working along with other
dental teams. Dentists are adding more dental therapists to the team to handle much of
routine dental work. Dental therapists are primary oral health care professionals who are
trained to perform basic clinical dental treatment and preventive services within a variety of
practice setting (Lewis, Wallace, Deutsch and King, 2015). The role of dental therapist in the
dental team includes the provision of oral health assessment, treatment planning, management
and prevention for children, adolescents and adults which depends on their training. But the
role differs and is depended on the education of the therapist and dental regulations and
guidelines of each country. The dental therapy includes comprehensive oral examination,
dietary advices, and help to adapt any risk factors for dental disease, give oral instructions to
the patient and parents, fill and abolish the dental carries (Blue, Rockwood and Riggs, 2015).
Similarly, extract baby teeth under local anaesthesia, perform pulpotomy treatment, take
radiographs of the teeth, provide dental sealant protection when necessary, administer fluoride
therapy and provide a professional clean mouth and teeth. Dental therapists refer the case to
the dentists when the problem becomes more complex.
References

Almoznino, G., Zini, A., Aframian, D.J., Kaufman, E., Lvovsky, A., Hadad, A. and Levin, L., 2015.
Oral health related quality of life in young individuals with dental anxiety and exaggerated
gag reflex. Oral Health Prev Dent, 13(5), pp.435-40.

Benzian, H., Greenspan, J.S., Barrow, J., Hutter, J.W., Loomer, P.M., Stauf, N. and Perry, D.A.,
2015. A competency matrix for global oral health. Journal of dental education, 79(4),
pp.353-361.

Blue, C.M., Rockwood, T. and Riggs, S., 2015, June. Minnesota dentists‫ ׳‬attitudes toward the
dental therapist workforce model. In Healthcare (Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 108-113). Elsevier.

Glick, M., Williams, D.M., Kleinman, D.V., Vujicic, M., Watt, R.G. and Weyant, R.J., 2017. A new
definition for oral health developed by the FDI World Dental Federation opens the door to
a universal definition of oral health. Journal of public health dentistry, 77(1), pp.3-5.

Lewis, A., Wallace, J., Deutsch, A. and King, P., 2015. Improving the oral health of frail and
functionally dependent elderly. Australian dental journal, 60, pp.95-105.

Mabry, T.R., 2019. Prevention of dental disease. In Pediatric Dentistry (pp. 588-597). Content
Repository Only!.

Pitts, N.B., Zero, D.T., Marsh, P.D., Ekstrand, K., Weintraub, J.A., Ramos-Gomez, F., Tagami, J.,
Twetman, S., Tsakos, G. and Ismail, A., 2017. Dental caries. Nature reviews Disease
primers, 3, p.17030.