Tooth cavities are one of the biggest global health issues for children and it is having a huge impact on their quality of life.
The WHO states children and adolescents are most at risk of experiencing cavities for a number of reasons including too much sugar or poor oral hygiene habits.2 As well as causing wider periodontal problems such as abscesses and missing teeth, cavities can result in physical pain for children who often require extensive and costly dental care to repair the damage. Indeed, by the time that South African children are 15 years old, over two-thirds have had teeth pulled out and over half have required hospital care because of tooth cavities.
Impact of tooth cavities
The consequences of cavities in early life go far beyond physical or financial issues. They can also have a huge impact on a child’s wellbeing causing them to miss school and experience difficulties eating and sleeping – key factors in the child’s social development.
Sadly, it also resulted in over a third of children feeling embarrassed to smile freely, a heart-breaking scenario for both the child and their parents. With a child’s life so impacted by tooth cavities, it’s natural that the issue is having an effect on childhood anxiety, with many children feeling worried and sad as a result.
With cavities so easily prevented, action must be taken now so that children can continue to build a future to smile about.
Right to Zero Cavities: eradicating childhood tooth cavities
Parents feel that a lack of education and access to dental care could be fuelling the problem with many reporting that they don’t feel confident to teach their children about oral care issues. Parents need to have the right tools to support their children in developing a regular brushing routine – twice a day for two minutes – and what foods and drinks to avoid to help prevent cavities in childhood. For this reason, Colgate launched their Bright Smiles, Bright Futures programme in South Africa in 1996 and it is now among the most successful children’s oral health initiatives. In the past five years alone, this program has impacted the lives of more than six million children by providing free oral health education and dental care.
Colgate has been a key contributor to the fight against cavities for over 20 years through the Transnet Phelophepa trains, which are free, mobile healthcare clinics that travel to rural parts of South Africa delivering primary health care in the form of dental checks. The dental clinic will now be fitted with inta-oral cameras that will capture images of oral health of both adults and children. The oral care professional will then be able to communicate the course of treatment for the patient.
Francois Falls, general manager, Colgate South Africa says: “It is distressing that the mental and physical wellbeing of so many children is being impacted because of tooth decay. Access to the right products and healthy brushing habits every day is something we may take for granted. In many ways, it feels like it should be a basic human right. But for some, it’s not. Together, we can – and we must – change that, because every child deserves the right to zero cavities.”
References:
Research and findings conducted by Insights Fuelling Growth in February 2020 among more than 14,000 parents of children aged 3-15 years old, across x12 countries (Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, UK, UAE, USA).
168% of South African children have experienced tooth decay. Using November 2019 data on ‘Children in South Africa’ by Katharine Hall who cites the total estimated child population under 18 as 19.7m. 68% of 19,700,000 = 13,396,000 (childrencount.uct.ac.za)
2 https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/your-guide-gum-disease#1
3 Uses November 2019 data on ‘Children in South Africa’ by Katharine Hall who cites the total estimated child population under 18 as 19.7m. 65% of 19,700,000 = 12,805,000 (childrencount.uct.ac.za)
