Putting off today what you think you cannot afford until tomorrow is a well established human inclination. Unfortunately, that kind of thing can end up resulting in not going to the dentist until it becomes a full blown emergency. When it comes to Aussie and their dental neglect, what are the real costs? The Australian Dental Association (ADA) points to the facts that dental neglect, also, happens at home with serious consequences. Not adhering to dental hygiene daily rituals like brushing your teeth and flossing can have very bad ramifications for the health of some individuals.

“The ADA’s Submission to the Inquiry Into Diabetes by the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport stresses that poor oral health not only contributes to the onset of Type 2 Diabetes, it can also make an existing Diabetes condition worse. Failing to brush teeth twice a day and floss once a day can not only contribute to the onset of Type 2 Diabetes, it can also make an existing Diabetes condition worse, a fact very few Australians are aware of.”
– ADA.org.au

Not Doing The Oral Care Basics Can End Up Costing You Heaps

The oral hygiene basics are most often communicated to us by mum and dad, if we are fortunate in this regard. Kids who don’t have responsible parents or carers around them can really struggle to get the basics inculcated with the necessary amount of love and nagging care. I personally remember my mum endlessly nagging me about brushing my teeth. Imagine for a moment if you didn’t receive this important messaging when growing up. In concert with this teeth cleaning prompting some dietary advice often came with it at various times about the dangers of eating too much sugary stuff. Alas, this writer was pretty deaf to this at the time and I have paid the price for my failure to grasp the importance of the messaging. Type 2 Diabetes is a modern scourge negatively impacting hundreds of millions of people around the western world. Refined sugars in processed foods have damaged the health and lives of way too many people. Combine this with the fact that we do not include dental into Medicare in Australia and we have a recipe for a public health disaster. Which, in all truth, we are in the midst of without the recognition being given to it by the media. 

“One in twenty (5.3% or 1.3 million) people had diabetes in 2022
Males and females had similar rates of diabetes (5.8% and 4.9%)
Diabetes prevalence has slowly increased from 3.3% in 2001 to 5.3% in 2022.”
– Abs.gov.au

“Around 2,000 First Nations people were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2021 (based on linked NDSS and APEG data), equating to 225 per 100,00 population. Age-standardised incidence rates were 1.2 times as high among First Nations males as females. Rates were highest among First Nations males aged 65–69 and First Nations females aged 60–64 (914 and 699 per 100,000, respectively).”
– AIHW.org.au

Why Neglecting Your Teeth & Gums Is A Very Bad Idea?

What are the real costs of dental neglect? Medical science is laser focussed at the moment on the linkage between poor oral health and systemic conditions associated with serious ill health. It is, as if, they have found a formerly secret early warning centre that we all should be paying attention to. Our mouths, and the teeth and gums within, are directly connected to our general health status. Poor oral hygiene and health can lead to bad outcomes for a variety of very serious conditions like heart disease, cancers, Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

The State Of Dental Visits In Australia

According to the most recent statistics around 31% of Aussie adults have not seen their local dentist in more than 12 months. Queensland is the worst state with that percentage of adults surveyed rising to 34.3%. Nearly 12% of Queenslanders have not been to the dentist in more than 5 years. The national average of this indicator is 9.3%.

Tooth Brushing Tips From The Experts

“Brush for two minutes, twice per day; once in the morning and once at night. Choose a toothbrush with a small head and soft bristles. Follow the same brushing routine every day. This can help to make sure you reach every tooth. Hold the toothbrush at a 45-degree angle towards the gums and brush gently in small circles or a back-and-forth motion. Do not scrub from side to side, this can damage your teeth and gums. Gently brush the top of your tongue. After brushing, spit out the toothpaste but do not rinse your mouth with water.”
– Tooth Brushing Factsheet

Your Oral Hygiene & Serious Health Risks

The latest oral health medical research data suggests that looking after your oral hygiene has never been more important. It is not just about prolonging the life of your natural teeth, although that is pretty useful in of itself. No, the state of your teeth and gums directly impacts upon your overall general health. Whether it be via your oral microbiome, which are the microbes and bacterium inside your mouth and around your teeth and gums, or if you have gum disease at whatever stage, or you have tooth decay and or missing teeth – all of these issues can be factors in much more serious negative health issues. The costs to you could be your quality of life and eventually your life itself – if you wilfully neglect your oral health over a period of time. That period can differ for each individual depending upon their age, health and proclivity for infections. Our oral cavity is the gateway to our systemic bodily functions.

“Like other areas of the body, the mouth is full of germs. Those germs are mostly harmless. But the mouth is the entry to the digestive tract. That’s the long tube of organs from the mouth to the anus that food travels through. The mouth also is the entry to the organs that allow breathing, called the respiratory tracts. So sometimes germs in the mouth can lead to disease throughout the body.”
– Mayo Clinic

Dental Neglect Will Cost You Lots Of Dollars

What are the real costs to Aussies of their dental neglect?  On a shallower level the economic costs are substantial when we leave things to fester. Too many Australians only go to the dentist when it is a dental emergency. This indifference to a preventative plan means when you see a dentist it is usually when you are in severe pain. Combine that nerve ending engendered physical stress with having to commit to immediate surgery like drilling out decay, root canal therapy, and extraction – it results in expense. Leaving everything until the very last minute is not a cost saving strategy. Not many dentists would recommend this course of action as a smart way to go about things. Regular check-ups actually catch things before they turn into expensive emergencies with few options available to patients.

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Note: All content and media on the Bacchus Marsh Dental House website and social media channels are created and published online for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

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