Half of 12-yr olds have tooth decay

VietNamNet Bridge – Up to 50 per cent of 12-year-old students in HCM City suffer from tooth decay, according to a recent report by the city’s Dental Hospital.

More than 80 per cent of children between 6 to 12 years old nationwide suffer from gum disease and tooth decay, according to the Ministry of Health. A lack of dental care centres and a high consumption of sweets are the main reasons for the shocking figures.

The Department of Preventive Health under the Ministry of Health has also reported that more than 80 per cent of primary school students nation-wide suffer from gum disease and tooth decay.

The shocking figures were attributed to a lack of awareness about dental care, and a high consumption of sweets, as more urban children experienced dental problems than rural ones, even though city kids reportedly took better care of their teeth.

According to the hospital, a lack of dental care centres in schools has added to the problem. One hundred and eighty five institutions, or less than 50 per cent of the city’s total, report they have dental care centres, but many have stopped operation due to lack of staff and poor pay.

Doctor Le Dong Khanh, deputy chairman of the national school-based dental care plan said Viet Nam did not have a long-term programme for dental care in schools.

Other experts say that the country has one of the world’s highest instances of tooth decay among children.

Khanh said many studies have found that the rate of tooth decay and gum disease has fallen in places with good dental programmes after six years of implementation.

From 2006-10, the national school-based dental care plan aims to set up 200 to 300 dental care clinics each year with staff and facilities for 400,000 to 600,000 students. As the result, from 3-5 million students, or 70 per cent of children nation-wide, should benefit.

Up to now, the programme has been unable to instil an understanding of the importance of dental care and many existing centres are lacking facilities, said Khanh. In addition, parents need to take more responsibility in educating their children, especially young children, about dental care.

Many parents were found to regularly neglect personal oral hygiene, making it even more challenging to teach the practice to children.

Khanh said schools, parents and doctors needed to co-operate on this issue.

While waiting for the national programme on dental care to take effect, Protect Vietnamese Smiles (PVS) has checked and treated around 3 million children of primary and kindergarten ages and educated them on oral hygiene while distributing free dental care products. In the last 10 years, PVS has contributed VND100 billion (US$5.8 million) to dental care.

(Source: Viet Nam News)

Update from: http://english.vietnamnet.vn//social/2008/09/806330/