Colgate/Ministry of Health launch Oral Heath Week
In case you haven’t noticed, there are very few ordinary days, weeks or months left on the calendar. That’s because various businesses, agencies and organisations have decided to celebrate their causes during specific times of the year. This month is no different as the Ministry of Health, the Belize Dental Society and the importers of Colgate toothpaste—Grace Kennedy Belize—have teamed up to officially launch Oral Health Month. According to local practitioners, activities associated with the event are designed to focus on the link between oral health and general well being.
Dr. Carl Meggs, Dentist
“A direct correlation has been found with heart disease caused by the bacterias in the heart disease is the same bacterias that is found in patients with periodontal disease. Which after all, if you really look at it and they say hind-sight is twenty, twenty, if your mouth is the entrance to your body and you have a bacteria, each tooth has nerves, veins and arteries that goes directly into the blood system. For example, you go to the doctor and they doing a root canal, what they are doing is removing the polyp, what the polyp is, the polyp is that nerve, artery and vein that leads into the blood system, the same stream. So it stands to reason that if you have bacteria that is bad for your gums, that’s eating away the bones that holds your teeth in place, that bacteria is not confined only to your mouth.”
Jose Coye, Minister of Health
“I myself, as a young boy, never had this opportunity that our children have right here this morning. We didn’t have that opportunity to be told this thins because we noh mi di talk bout brush yu teeth then, we mi di talk bout scrub yu teeth. And when we scrub it we do so(side to side) and so (up and down) and then we go play football and when we done you know di pipe, di faucet noh deh on good we turn it with wi teeth and crack it. Then we di open di lemonade with wi teeth. We di look fi bruk di supa seed with wi teeth. We di look fi do wah lot a thing with di teeth weh ih neva mek fa. And then we begin to crack it. Then we eat up the sweet, we eat up all the different type of food and beans and we noh bother fi scrub dah teeth after. And fi we parents deh really didn’t know better. One of the benefits we had-as a young boy I could recall-that cane was very common and we use to buy cane and we eat a lot of cane so that use to help us but then di sugar inna the cane. So while we di bring the prettier smile it won’t be long because di decay begin. So, to me, I think it is important for our students to be taught about the prevention so that you can in fact preserve those beautiful smiles.”
According to Dr. Meggs, doctors have also made a connection between premature births and periodontal disease. Oral Health Month is celebrated under the theme, Stop Extraction Go Prevention and will include free dental clinics as well as education and screening programs in schools countrywide.
