SPEECH BY YB DATO’ SRI LIOW TIONG LAI

MINISTER OF HEALTH MALAYSIA

AT THE LAUNCH OF THE 1 MALAYSIA ORAL HEALTH AWARENESS CAMPAIGN, TROPICANA CITY MALL, PETALING JAYA

Salient Points :

Good afternoon and Salam 1Malaysia.

• Poor dental health can lead to gum disease, tooth loss, pain, and problems with eating and talking. Poor oral health may also worsen other serious health problems such as diabetes and respiratory diseases. New research indicates that poor dental health may also increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, as well as premature and low birth weight babies. On the other hand, good oral health enhances the quality of life. A healthy set of teeth is important to eat well, speak clearly and improve our smile. Good teeth help us to look good and feel confident.
• The oral health status of young Malaysians has improved by leaps and bounds compared to the days before Independence. Today more than 40 per cent of our 16-year-old schoolchildren have never experienced dental caries in their permanent dentition, as compared to the early 1970s when only about 15 per cent were free of disease
  . One in five young adults below age 30 (21.6%) today is also free of caries. Compare this to the early 1970s when only 1 in 9 was free of caries. In those days it was also common to lose one’s teeth as we grew older – more than half (53.5%) of people had lost all their natural teeth by the age of 65 and above. Although the last survey in 2000 reported some improvements in the dentition of the elderly, the improvements could be better. Therefore, we cannot be complacent.
• This year the Ministry of Health will embark on the Fourth National Oral Health Survey of Adults 2010 (NOHSA 2010). The objective is to determine the oral health conditions and treatment needs of adults in order to plan better oral health programmes to serve our needs. Findings from such ten-yearly national surveys have in the past led the Ministry to justify for the establishment of dental specialities to meet population needs. We had also introduced a programme for the elderly in 1993. Data from such surveys will also provide much-needed information to plan for the development and training of human resources for oral healthcare.
• This time around, the survey teams from the Ministry of Health, led by a dental officer, will be coming to selected households from April to July this year. We hope to reach more than 14,000 adults in the country aged 15 years and above. This survey will only involve an interview and a dental examination. Those found to need dental treatment will be referred to the nearest government dental clinic. Rest assured that the information collected will be kept confidential. You would be very lucky if you are chosen, as it means having a free dental check-up in your own home. Please take advantage of this, and we hope you will give us your fullest cooperation to make this survey a success.
• The National Oral Health Survey of Adults ten years ago did report some interesting findings. We discovered that more than half (53.6%) of adults interviewed had not made a dental visit in the previous two years. This was in the mistaken belief that their dental problems were not severe enough to see the dentist or because they thought that their dental problems would go away on their own. The truth was that 9 out of 10 adults had dental caries experience. Moreover, only less than 10 per cent (9.8%) of those who had any teeth did not have any gum problems, while 45 per cent of them actually needed some sort of restorative care (fillings). In fact, more than one third of those examined (35.8%) had such badly-affected teeth that they required dental extractions.
• We therefore need to create greater awareness among the general public of the importance of self or home care, and the benefits of making regular dental visits for prevention. Do not wait until you have pain or swelling, and come to the dental clinic only after suffering a sleepless night. The oral health profession has for many years been advocating regular dental visits, for we now have a whole array of preventive treatment and aesthetics improvement options to help you preserve and improve your smiles. Frankly, no dentist actually looks forward to seeing a patient coming in with pain.
• YOU are the key player in managing your own oral health. In oral health, an ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure. Just like any other part of your body, your teeth and mouth need regular care and attention for optimal health. Home or self-care, coupled with regular preventive dental visits, is a primary factor to ensure continued oral health improvement. The dentist can only be your partner in maintaining good oral health.
• Being a nutritionist, I consider excessive sugar in foods and drinks as one of the greatest common risk factor today. We Malaysians take far too much sugar - almost 76 grams per person per day, which is equivalent to 15 teaspoons of sugar per person per day. This is 15% of our daily total calorie intake, exceeding the recommended level of 10% or less from sugar. These “empty” calories contribute no nutrition or fibre and leave little room for nutritious food in our diet.
• A high sugar intake contributes to weight gain and obesity – factors that can lead to diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. In the presence of certain bacteria in the mouth, sugar leads to the production of acids and toxic bacterial by-products. These acids, if allowed to linger on the teeth, cause dental caries. It is therefore not surprising that the honey bear is the only wild animal found in nature that has a problem of tooth decay. The toxins, if not removed properly from the gum margins, irritate the gums and lead to gum disease. Young people nowadays also drink too much soft drinks that are loaded with sugar. To make things worse, carbonated soft drinks contain phosphoric acid which can erode the teeth if taken frequently. Indeed, water is the best thirst quencher and does not lead to tooth decay or erosion.