Oral Health: What is Oral Health? A Teeth-Friendly Guide!

Just as morning shows the day, your oral health is a good indicator of your overall health condition. Mouth health refers to the health of your gums, teeth, and the entire system that helps you in activities like having a conversation, smiling, or eating. Oral hygiene also reflects your quality of life. 

To know more about what is oral health, different types of oral diseases, some crucial dental and oral health facts, and the types of oral hygiene to prioritize, read on.

What are some of the common oral health conditions?

Any discussion about what is oral health is incomplete without knowing one simple fact: without proper oral care, you increase your risk of getting certain oral and teeth diseases. You can also get an oral health condition by birth or by accident. 

It is crucial to watch out for the following oral diseases for better oral and dental health care. 

• Gum disease: Results from severe infections and swelling in the gums
• Loss of teeth: A major consequence that you may face post a gum disease. 
• Oro-dental trauma: Results from serious injury in your teeth and surrounding areas. 
• Cleft lips and cleft palate: Birth defects that cause a split in your upper lip, or lower lip, or both. 
• Dental cavities: Caused by the decay in your tooth enamel. This decay is induced by bacteria that reside on your teeth. If you consume high-carb foods and drinks, these bacteria produce an acid that leads to the cavity. 
• Oral cancer: Also known as mouth cancer, this malignant cell disorder can affect your cheeks, tongue, lips, pharynx, sinuses, and more. 
• Noma: Also referred to as oro-facial gangrene and cancrum oris, noma is a severely infectious disease which leads to destruction of tissues in and around your mouth, most common in children aged between 2-16 years.

Some crucial dental and oral health facts

When it comes to oral diseases, the WHO has come up with a few important data points. For example, 60%-90% of the school-going children over the world suffer from at least one dental cavity. Apart from children, almost all adults have it too. About 15%-20% of adults aged between 35-44 also suffer from severe gum disease. 

Moreover, you can find about 1 to 10 cases of oral cancer among every 1,00,000 people. Among 30% of the senior citizens of different countries, aged between 65 and 74, have no natural teeth left. Note that among the poor and underprivileged population groups across the world, the risk factors and cases of oral diseases are much higher in number.

Symptoms of dental and oral diseases

When it comes to mouth health, identifying that there is something wrong is quite simple due to noticeable signs that can you see. Here are some of the alarming symptoms of oral diseases to help you get started with treatment immediately:

• Teeth becoming loose
• Severe toothache or unbearable pain in your mouth
• Tender areas, sores, or ulcers inside your mouth that don’t go away
• Missing parts or fractures in your teeth
• Pain while biting or chewing
• Bad breath
• Jaw popping or clicking of the jaw
• Loss of saliva leading to dry mouth
• A receding gumline
• Discomfort and sensitivity to extreme temperatures, be it hot or cold 

Major risk factors for dental and oral diseases

In most cases, you get dental and oral diseases by not following oral hygiene properly, unless it is accidental or a disorder by birth. Take a look at these risk factors:

• Active or passive smoking
• Diabetes
• Changes in the pattern of hormone production in the female body
• HIV or AIDS
• Genetics
• Unhealthy brushing habits
• Heartburn or acid reflux
• Nausea and vomiting, due to heartburn
• Medications that dry up your mouth
• Regular intake of carbohydrate-rich foods and drinks

Areas that doctors may check when you complain of oral health symptoms

Most of the major dental and oral diseases can be identified with a simple exam conducted by your dentist. They may check the following areas:

• Cheeks
• Throat
• Teeth
• Jaw
• Tongue
• Neck
• Mouth

It is important to know what is oral health, and give attention to your teeth and gums right from childhood. By prioritizing oral health care, you can keep oral diseases and dental diseases at bay. In case you need quick oral hygiene and oral health care tips, you can book a doctor consultation in minutes on Bajaj Finserv Health. For major symptoms related to oral and teeth diseases, consulting a dentist is the right solution. In case you have conditions like oral cancer, dentists will refer you to the specific specialists you need to consult. To do all this with ease, remember that you can consult with 8,400+ doctors across 45+ specialties via teleconsultation in 17+ languages on the Bajaj Finserv Health platform. Note that you can find doctors on the platform 24x7! 

Apart from that, you can also buy one of the Complete Health Solution Plans under Aarogya Care on the same platform. With this health insurance policy, you can enjoy comprehensive healthcare coverage, which will include a health cover up to Rs.10 lakh for two adults and four children. With the Complete Health Solution plan, you can also enjoy benefits like network discounts, coverage for pre- and post-hospitalization, preventive health check-ups, day-care procedures, road ambulance charges, organ donor expenses, and more. With this plan, you can easily prioritize your oral health, and get treated for oral diseases too.