The Prevalence and Preventability of Tooth Decay

If I asked you to list the top 10 most prevalent diseases in the world, you would most likely begin listing diseases such as diabetes, asthma, acne, or perhaps even Alzheimer’s disease. However, much to the surprise of many, dental caries, more commonly known as tooth decay, really should make an appearance in that list. Although tooth decay is prevalent, particularly throughout the western world, it is also highly preventable and has been occurring more and more often in recent years. In fact, a paper by Dr. Robert Bagramian from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry labeled dental caries as a, "pending public health crisis."

Recently, a shift in diet of the western world has lead to the prevalence of tooth decay. Historically, people have eaten a diet consisting of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. However, more recently there has been a trending shift where people shy away from fats and replace them with carbohydrates, namely, sugars; and this is part of why tooth decay is running rampant. Tooth decay occurs when bacteria in the mouth feed off of sugars, left over from eating, in the mouth. After processing the sugars, the bacteria then excrete an acid. According to webMD.com, these acids will persist in the mouth for about 20 minutes after you eat, causing tooth decay. Additionally, these acids can become trapped in food and other material in the mouth, persisting for much longer and forming a plaque. This makes most people highly susceptible to suffering from tooth decay. Below are some examples of what extreme tooth decay can look like.

Child Presenting with Severe Tooth Decay

Tooth decay is extremely prevalent, including richer countries. According to the Center for Disease Control, tooth decay, while largely preventable, is the most prevalent disease in children and adolescents aged from 6 to 19.  This is a particularly appalling statistic because, like the Center for Disease Control said, it’s largely preventable. They also cite that tooth decay is four times more common than asthma in adolescents and children. Finally, they cite that 9 out of 10 adults over the age of 20 have, or will have, some form of tooth root decay during their lifetimes. If these statistics alone are not saddening enough, perhaps worst of all is how preventable this disease really is. To illustrate this, below is a map of the world showing the prevalence of dental caries by the number of decayed, filled or missing teeth for 12 year old children for a given country.

Map Showing Average Number of Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth in 12-year-olds

Although tooth decay is prevalent, it is very easily preventable. In fact, simplest way to prevent tooth decay is for one to brush their teeth twice a day using a sugar-free fluoridated tooth paste. The American Dental Association includes this along with the following as a comprehensive method to prevent tooth decay: cleaning in between your teeth with floss or an interdental cleaner, eating nutritionally balanced meals and limiting snacking, visiting a dentist regularly for cleaning and oral examination, and checking with your dentist whether or not supplemental fluoride and/or dental sealants may be appropriate for you to use. The adoption of these measures by people throughout the world would lead to a significant decline in the prevalence of tooth decay. There are some people, however, who will still suffer from tooth decay because they are predisposed to the disease. The Center for Disease Control cites one example of a condition which does not directly cause tooth decay but accelerates the process is xerostomia, commonly known as dry mouth.

In summary, although tooth decay is prevalent, it does not have to be. While tooth decay is currently one of the most prevalent diseases in western society, particularly among the young, simple oral hygene can be used to almost completely prevent the disease. Although there are some cases where people are predisposed to tooth decay, they remain as the very few, and failure to adhere to the simple guidelines of the Center for Disease Control and other professional sources are the true cause for the disease.

Photos courtesy of:
1) Imaging Systems

2) The Royal College of Surgeons 

Where'd All The Pre-Dental Students Go?: Your Local Pre-Dental Club

So right now some of you may be wondering; if there are so many pre-dental students online, where on earth are they hiding? Well, to start with, they really aren't hiding. The truth is, there just aren't all that many of us! While wherever you're going to school there is likely thousands of biology majors and maybe even some who identify as being pre-med, but there will generally be far few pre-dental students. Just to give you an idea, according to the American Dental Education Association in recent years there have been roughly 5000 students, nationally, entering dental school. On the other hand, according to data from the American Association of Medical Colleges over 20,000 medical students are entering school every year. I think it's a reasonable assumption to make that these numbers also reflect the number of pre-dental or pre-med students still in college. Therefore, this data means that you are four times more likely to come across a pre-med student than a pre-dental student. Although this might help explain why you are finding it so tough to find other like minded pre-dental students I still haven't answered the burning question: where can I find them?

Without a doubt, the best place to find other pre-dental students is at your local colleges pre-dental club. Although you might not be aware of them, most four-year colleges in America will have such a club. For quite some time I was blissfully unaware of my school's pre-dental club until a simple google search for, "SFSU pre-dental club," revealed that there was in fact an active club on campus. After talking to other pre-dental students in the club, I found that these clubs don't generally advertise well and as a result they are often difficult to find.

Now that you've found out that you college actually does have an active pre-dental club you're wondering why should you bother joining? I'm sure, like me, your schedule is already full of classes, pre-dental activities and probably even work commitments. Your time is definitely valuable, but investing some of this time into getting involved with your local pre-dental club will definitely not be wasted. Not only will you meet what will definitely become a new group of like-minded friends, just being around people with the same dreams, goals, and visions will almost certainly be both motivating and inspiring. Perhaps best of all though are some of the volunteering activities that are hosted by your local pre-dental club.

Although I'm sure you are already a fairly active member within your community, I'm sure it is difficult to find ways to support dental and other oral health related causes with the work that you are doing. However, pre-dental clubs often focus their community work on these areas. For example, the pre-dental club at SFSU is affiliated with America's ToothFairy: National Children's Oral Health Foundation.This foundation, which focuses its efforts on promoting the oral health of some of America's most vulnerable children, provides my pre-dental club with many opportunities to conduct public outreach and teach young children about oral hygiene and health. Not only do activities such as these allow me to actively participate in solving a national problem, but they also help prepare me for a career in dentistry by teaching me valuable skills in patient education which I will no doubt employ in the future.

Among other things, being a member of your local pre-dental club will afford you the opportunity to both meet driven, like-minded individuals such as yourself and conduct incredible community outreach activities. For these reasons alone I implore you to become involved in your local pre-dental club; not to mention knowing upperclassmen who matriculate to dental school can serve as a solid foundation for mentoring and navigating the future application process.