Community Education

Basic Dental Health Tips

Chances are that all your life you have heard tips and advice on keeping your teeth strong and your mouth healthy.  Visiting your dentist and hygienist every 6 months for a check-up and cleaning are important measures to get early treatment for any problems that might arise.  Your hygienist can give you tips about improving your cleaning techniques to avoid cavities and gum disease.

Dental decay is preventable, and all teeth are important.  Once a child experiences decay, even just a small cavity on a baby tooth, he will be fighting against further tooth decay for the rest of his life.  Most dental issues are caused by bacteria and shared by kissing or sharing spoons or cups.  Cavities are contagious!

Preventing cavities is easy to keep in mind: brush your teeth after meals – no less than twice a day for two minutes each time – and floss every day.  Using fluoride in toothpaste and supplements makes teeth more resistant to decay.

Oral Health Basics
Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Education for Public Dental Health

Student Community Health Workers present dental health information at a wellness event at the Sonoma County Family YMCA.

Public Dental Health is the assessment of dental health needs and improving the dental health of populations rather than individuals. The focus is on health equity and addressing systematic barriers. Examples can be building a strong network of providers for everyone to access care, or adding fluoride to the water supply so that drinking water will help protect the community from dental decay. These systems improve the dental health for every person of any age.

Connect to the Sonoma County Dental Health Network on Facebook for more information on making your community healthier.