About Oral Health

Key points

• Oral health allows us to eat, speak, smile, and show emotions.
• Poor oral health can lead to pain, poor school performance, productivity losses, and lowered quality of life.
• Oral diseases — which range from cavities and gum disease to oral cancer — are largely preventable with a combination of professional and self-care.

Overview

Oral health refers to health of the teeth, gums, and entire oral-facial system.

Many children and adults experience poor oral health due to common oral diseases such as cavities (tooth decay) and periodontal (gum) disease—both of which are the leading causes of tooth loss.

In the United States, more than half of children and adolescents aged 12–19 (57%) and almost all adults 20 or older (90% or more as age increases) have had cavities in their permanent teeth. Although dental sealants can be used to prevent cavities, less than half of U.S. children aged 6–11 (42%) have dental sealants on any of their permanent teeth.

About 34 million school hours and 92 million work hours are lost yearly due to unplanned and emergency dental care services.

While oral health affects our ability to do things like eat, speak, and smile, oral health is also connected to our overall health. For example, poor periodontal (gum) health can worsen glycemic control (blood sugar level) in people living with diabetes.

Types

Some of the most common diseases and conditions that impact our oral health include:

• Cavities (tooth decay)
• Periodontal (gum) diseases
• Oral cancers
• Tooth loss

Prevention

Things you can do to support your oral health include:

• Brushing twice daily.
• Flossing daily.
• Limiting foods and beverages that are high in added sugar.
• Having at least a yearly dental check-up and professional cleanings.
• Having additional dental visits if recommended by your health care provider.

Sometimes an oral disease may not cause any pain or signs that you can easily see until the disease has reached a more serious stage. Having a professional evaluation is part of why routine dental check-ups are so important.

Dental check-ups can also be a time when you and your provider discuss your unique risks for developing oral diseases, and how to help protect your oral health.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Material produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a work of the United States government and is in the public domain.

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