Working Towards Increasing Access to Oral Health

Dental health is an important factor that affects not only the beauty of a smile but also your self-confidence. In addition, any pathology in the oral cavity can lead to serious diseases, which may require prolonged treatment. Therefore, knowing how to properly care for your teeth and what factors can affect their condition can help you maintain healthy teeth and avoid problems in the future.

Dental health depends on many factors, and not all of them are directly related to the state of the oral cavity. However, everything is interconnected in the human body. Therefore, any “failure” can somehow affect the health of teeth and gums. Let’s consider the main factors that are primarily responsible for how often you have to visit the dentist.

As you may be aware, the province of Ontario does not provide universal dental health coverage for its residents. In fact, one in three Ontarians lacks any form of dental insurance, and one in five avoids visiting the dentist due to financial constraints. For instance, individuals earning low wages or those unable to afford extended health benefits often find themselves without dental insurance and unable to take time off work to seek care. Seniors, who lose dental coverage upon retirement and live on a fixed income, are also significantly impacted by the absence of a publicly funded dental program in Ontario.

Some municipalities offer programs that provide limited access to dental care to bridge the gap left by Medicare, but these programs often have long waitlists, making access challenging. Existing provincial programs offer a limited range of dental services and do not fully cover vulnerable populations.

The Vaughan Community Health Centre has initiated efforts to advocate for improved access to oral health care for all Ontarians. Our research into the available literature has highlighted the harmful effects of limited access to oral health services. We have discovered that dental issues, such as missing or damaged teeth, are closely linked to a lack of self-confidence, which can negatively affect social relationships and job prospects. Additionally, dental infections can lead to poor nutrition, sleep deprivation, and severe health conditions like diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. We believe this is a significant and costly issue that demands attention.

How can you contribute? We are currently seeking members of the Vaughan community who are willing to share their stories with us. Have you, your family, or friends faced challenges due to the lack of access to dental services in the region? Is this an issue that concerns you and that you want to help address? We would appreciate hearing your experiences, voicing your concerns, and gathering your input on the future direction of our advocacy efforts.

In 2010, Poverty Action for Change Coalition (PACC) saw their efforts come to fruition when they hosted York Region’s ISARC social audit at “The Hub,” a center in York Region that provided shelter, a food bank, resources for homelessness, outreach, and information for those in need. The social audit, organized through a collaboration of faith groups and social service providers, was conducted at locations in both the northern and southern parts of York Region, Ontario, to gather input. The information collected was compiled into a report titled “Behind The Masks.” The section discussing access to adequate oral health can be found from 8:48 to 10:09 minutes in the report.

Be an Advocate for Change!

Ontario Oral Health Alliance E-Action Campaign

The Problem:
Over 2.3 million people in Ontario—one of the wealthiest regions globally—cannot afford to visit a dentist or dental hygienist. The majority of these individuals are low-income seniors and adults. While the Ontario government pledged in 2014 to extend public dental programs to low-income adults and seniors, this expansion is not expected until 2025. This delay could mean up to nine more years of dental pain and infection for people in our communities who cannot afford the essential dental care they need.

We Can Do Better

• Add Your Voice: Visit www.aohc.org/oral-health to send a message directly to Ontario’s Health Minister, Dr. Eric Hoskins, urging immediate government action on this issue!
• Tweet a Message: Spread the word by using the hashtags #OralHealthEquity, #ONdental, or #ONpoli.

Resources:

• Summary Report OOHA Report On Access to Public Dental Programs

Get Involved:

Feel free to reach out to us at info@vaughanhealthcarechc.com if you have any questions or would like to join the Vaughan Community Health Centre’s advocacy initiative.

Role of heredity

Information about the location of teeth in the dentition, their density, shape, height, degree of strength of the enamel and its color is transmitted from parents to children. The genetic code, encoded in DNA, has determined the individual characteristics of your dentition and will in the same way determine the characteristics of the teeth and gums of your children.

But heredity has nothing to do with caries.

Nutrition of the expectant mother and the health of the child’s teeth

The dentoalveolar apparatus, like all other organs, is laid and formed during the intrauterine period of development with only one difference: the child is born without teeth but has both temporary and permanent rudiments of them, which will grow at the right time. The quality of these “embryos” depends on nutrition and dental care during pregnancy, which will fully fulfill the functions only after a few years. Deficiency of nutrients, a lack of calcium, fluoride and magnesium-rich foods in the diet of the expectant mother is the shortest path to dental health problems in her child. In such cases, the baby most often has insufficient saturation of hard tissues with minerals, looseness of tooth enamel, “milk” caries and other pathologies.

Water and human dental health

The quality of the liquid we drink is an important factor in determining the health of our teeth and other organs of our body. The body of an adult consists of water for almost 70%. The minerals contained in it help to fill the deficiency of some trace elements that are part of the bone and soft tissues. When the quantity, quality and composition of water in the body changes, the most important processes are disturbed, including the assimilation of nutrients necessary for the normal functioning of all systems.

Balanced diet

The need for proper nutrition cannot be overemphasized. Thanks to a balanced diet with the presence of all the necessary nutrients in it, it is possible to satisfy the body’s need for vitamins and minerals more effectively than by taking vitamin-mineral complexes.

To ensure dental health, the daily menu must include fresh and boiled vegetables, meat, fish, fruits and fruit juices (preferably diluted with water to reduce the activity of organic acids), lactic acid products and herbs. The amount of sweets and baked goods in the diet should be minimized: these products form plaque on the surface of the teeth and in the interdental spaces, which becomes a favorable environment for microbes that cause caries and other diseases. Watch for a variety of foods. This ensures that the necessary substances will enter the body from different products:

• calcium. This mineral is involved in many processes at the cellular level and is one of the most essential for the maintenance and regulation of various functions. The bones of the skeleton contain up to 99% of calcium, and it is the bone tissues that are the reservoir for replenishing this substance in case of its lack in food. That is, with a calcium deficiency, this trace element is extracted from the bones, which gradually leads to their thinning and increased fragility. Considering that teeth are also built from calcium, it is not surprising that a deficiency of this element also affects their condition;
• magnesium. This microelement ensures the functioning of the nervous tissue, it is necessary for the formation of bones. Magnesium is a part of the hard tissues of the tooth and participates in metabolic processes that ensure the normal condition of the gums;
• fluorine. Fluoride plays an important role in dental health. Thanks to this microelement, a high density of hard tooth tissues is provided, which does not allow them to collapse under the influence of unfavorable factors.

Prevention of oral cavity diseases

The effective oral protection is a comprehensive approach to prevention that takes into account every factor that can affect the health of your teeth and gums.

• Correct and regular hygiene. Regularly brushing your teeth twice a day and using dental floss are not all that is needed for prevention. It is necessary to remember about the mouthwash, which will help not only to freshen your breath but also to properly care for your teeth. Use special mouth rinses designed for oral hygiene, protecting it from bacteria for 24 hours, and taking into account various aspects of care. Gum health, safe whitening, caries prevention – you can choose a mouthwash to help you take care of your oral cavity based on your personal preferences and needs.
• Regular visits to the dentist. Taking care of your teeth only at home is not enough. In order for any diseases or disorders to be detected in a timely manner, it is necessary to visit the dentist twice a year, even if there are no complaints about the condition of the teeth and gums. This approach does not allow you to miss the beginning of the disease, when it can be cured with minimal loss of time and energy.
• Correct nutrition. Prevention of oral diseases involves more than just changing the diet and including foods high in nutrients, vitamins and trace elements. The consistency of such products is also important. The menu must include firm varieties of apples, carrots and other dense vegetables and fruits. Intensive chewing of fibrous foods, which are vegetables and fruits, is an excellent prevention of poor circulation in the gums. Coarse plant fibers produce a peeling effect on the tooth enamel, gently removing plaque from it.
• Cure systemic diseases. It is very important to monitor the general condition of your body. Various irregularities in its work – from hormonal disruptions to gastrointestinal diseases – can provoke a problem of teeth and gums, as well as complicate the treatment of already existing ailments.

Dental care services in Ontario

• Dental care for seniors on low income (government-funded dental care Ontario) – the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program;
• Dental care for low-income adults – Smile City Dental – Dentistry with Care (All ages), Parkdale Queen West Dental Services, Dentistry Smile City Dental (All ages), Parkdale Queen West Dental Services;
• Dental coverage Ontario for low-income citizens – the Healthy Smiles Program.