Читать книгу The Impact of Nutrition and Diet on Oral Health - Группа авторов - Страница 18

Oral health is essential for both general health and quality of life. It is a state in which the individual is free from oral diseases and disorders, which could limit his or her capacity to bite, chew, smile, speak, taste, swallow, and experience self-esteem and psychosocial well-being [1, 2]. This includes being free from pain, discomfort, and diseases such as dental caries, periodontal disease, tooth loss, mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, and oral infections. Although an improvement in oral health, not least dental caries and periodontal disease, has been seen during the last 50 years, they are the main reasons for tooth loss and constitute a burden to the individual, dental profession, and society. The prevalence of oral diseases varies by geographical region and the availability and accessibility of oral health services, as well as in relation to social determinants. Large-scale inequality can still be seen, and oral health is unequally distributed within and between countries. The prevalence of disease is significantly higher among poor and disadvantaged population groups.

Fig. 1. a Erosive tooth wear, b dental caries, c oral cancer, d periodontal disease.

Oral conditions are included among the non-communicable diseases, which also include diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic lung disease. These are regarded as the leading causes of the disease burden and mortality worldwide. Today, it is also known that there is a strong connection between oral disease and the 4 main non-communicable diseases.

Oral health cannot be looked upon in isolation. The mouth is a window into the health of the body and signs of nutritional deficiencies may be seen in the mouth at an early stage, in the form of mouth lesions or other oral disorders. The global aim is lifelong oral health for everyone! Diet, nutrition, tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, and oral hygiene should be regarded as modifiable risk-behaviour factors. Methods are currently available to prevent a large number of oral diseases. To control oral health, it is important to increase our knowledge of oral disease aetiology, develop standardised measurement tools, and focus on oral health promotion and preventive strategies including the effective control of diet and nutritional risk factors. This chapter aims to discuss in greater detail dental caries, dental erosion/erosive tooth wear, periodontal diseases, oral cancer, and dry mouth condition from this perspective. Figure 1 shows examples of the first four conditions.