SPEECH BY
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR PATRICK TSENG, CHIEF DENTAL OFFICER, MINISTRY OF HEALTH
AT THE LAUNCH OF ORAL HEALTH MONTH 2008
29 JULY 2008
Dr. Lewis Lee
President
Singapore Dental Association
Mr. Lefteris Vitalis
Managing Director
Colgate Palmolive
Ladies and gentlemen
I am delighted to be here today at the launch of Oral Health Month 2008. It has been four years since the inaugural SDA-Colgate Oral Health Month and this community project has come a long way, making significant contributions in promoting oral health awareness and the reinforcement of good dental habits in Singapore. This year, the Ministry of Health, once again, lends its full support to the Health Promotion Board s partnership with Colgate, the Singapore Dental Association and the Singapore Dental Health Foundation in bringing the fifth Oral Health Month to Singaporeans.
We are all familiar with the saying that Prevention is better than cure . A good dental regime to prevent oral diseases should be a lifelong practice and there is no better time to inculcate good dental habits than during a child s developing years.
To be launched for the first time at this year s event, the Oral Health Month s new pre-schoolers module, which will be shown to you in a while, focuses on educating pre-schoolers on the importance of proper oral health care through a series of fun and stimulating activities.
Recognising the importance of establishing positive oral health habits from young, the Ministry of Health, together with the Health Promotion Board, has already established a variety of dental health education programmes designed to educate pre-schoolers about the importance of good oral health, through highlighting the causes, consequences and prevention of tooth decay.
Each year, as part of the Health Promotion Board s pre-school oral health promotion programme, kindergarten children already take part in interactive activities such as story-telling, songs and games to learn why and how to care for their teeth.
I understand that regular educational road shows are held at the Health Promotion Board s one-stop interactive health education centre called HealthZone and through puppetry and music, they engage these young children and spread the important message about the need to practice good oral health habits.
Parents and caregivers are certainly not forgotten in our endeavour to educate and motivate young children to adopt a conscious effort to maintain their dental health. The Health Promotion Board also organises workshops to equip parents and caregivers about the importance of cultivating good dental habits in their children.
These initiatives have yielded results. According to a Children's Oral Health Survey conducted in 2003, more than half of the 6-year-olds surveyed were free of decay in their baby teeth while 71% of the 12-year-olds were free of decay in their permanent teeth. This same survey showed that the Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth, or the DMFT, index of 12-year-old children had fallen from 3 in the 1970s to 0.54 in 2003. This puts Singapore as one of the countries with the lowest DMFT index worldwide.
However, whilst we have seen a marked improvement in the oral health standards of children in Singapore over the years, the 2003 Children s Oral Health Survey also revealed that 40.7% of those with decay had left them untreated and about a fifth of the 6-year-olds had at least 4 decayed, missing or filled teeth.
There is therefore more to be done. Improving the oral health of Singaporeans, young and old alike, is a collaborative effort individuals, parents, caregivers, school teachers, and dentists everyone has a important role to play in ensuring Singaporeans achieve optimal oral health.
To this end, the Ministry of Health applauds Colgate s efforts in using the Oral Health Month as an interactive and engaging educational platform for Singaporeans. The pre-schoolers module, which has been added this year, together with numerous pragmatic initiatives from the Health Promotion Board will certainly make an important contribution in raising the standards of oral health care among our children.
Thank you.