Human beings will certainly encounter dental diseases at some point of their lives only in varying degrees. Gums, jawbone and of course the natural teeth can be adversely affected by bacterial infections like dental caries or tooth decay and periodontal disease, gingivitis or gum disease along with periodontitis also known as pynorhea.
Such diseases happen due to the existence of three variables which include a susceptible host or the individual, bacteria, which cause the destruction, and of course a nutritive source for the bacteria. If one of three ingredients will not exist, disease will not push thru. The formula for the development of dental problems is very basic but then different factors come in when one talks about the extent of these health woes. Race and ethnicity are two of these health problems.
At the very young age of between 12 to 23 months, a percentage of kids in this bracket already have cavities based on the NIH’s report. Ironically, 55 percent of kids from 5 to 17 do not have cavities in their permanent teeth and 62 percent of kids from 2 to 9 years of age do not have cavities in their primary dentition. There wasn’t much of a discrepancy in the cavity experience of boys versus girls from ages 2 to 9 years but then comparing the races, slightly less cavity problems were found in blacks compared to the white kids. It was also shown that Mexican Americans had substantially less cavity problems at this age against their non Hispanic white and non Hispanic black counterparts.
With no substantial difference between genders, it has been evident that permanent teeth of 5 to 17 year old children were found to possess no cavities at all, 55 percent of the time. Analyzing this age’s subgroups, blacks were discovered to be less prone to tooth decay, Mexican Americans coming in next while in whites, cavity development went down in the whole group’s average.
The population of the adults seemed to have various cavity and filling trends when it came to ethnicity and race compared to that of the population of kids and adolescents. Noticeable differences were present in the examined subgroups even as there were very few differences between sexes. Mexican Americans and non Hispanic blacks alike had around one half of the filling or cavity experience that the non Hispanic whites had.
On the macro level, fewer cavities appeared among Mexican Americans who were also more likely to have more than either those categorized under either non Hispanic blacks or whites. Each day, there tends to be a greater exposure of the root surfaces of the teeth to the oral environment as one person ages. A combination of disease processes and other variables are closely related with this.
Root surfaces in every person’s one or two teeth, without any race or race ethnicity biases per individual are struck with cavities. Modern dental science and practice has helped foster a decline in tooth loss during the last several decades. For all adults over 18, data from the survey revealed that nearly 90 percent of persons had at least one tooth remaining, and 30 percent had all their teeth.
The ones that lasted the longest were the six teeth at the lower front area. But then 10 percent in this group was unable to keep even just one tooth. Those known as first and second molars were commonly missing while there were more lost teeth in the upper jaw than in the lower jaw. In general terms, black non Hispanic topped the chart of the highest rate of tooth loss while Mexican Americans had the lowest seat in this ranking.
It is also to be noted that approximately 40 percent exhibited a moderate loss of support to the dentition and 90 percent of those diagnosed had experienced a minor loss of gum and or bone support to the teeth. There are those who had developed severe destruction of the bone support of the teeth, and this makes up 15 percent them. More often, it is the males who are more effected than females in terms of severity and frequency. Better periodontal health is seen in more non Hispanic whites than non Hispanic black people or Mexican Americans in general.
We can already see that based on this comprehensive survey, US residents’ dental healths varies among races and ethnic groups and best of all, the decades that have passed has seen a constant improvement. With such improvements, it is sad that dental diseases are still one of the greatest health quandaries but the upside is that the local dental community can readily provide ways and means to address these things.
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