Oral hygiene key to healthy future

By GRACE AUKA
PROPER oral hygiene habits from an early age is the key to a healthier future for Papua New Guineans, chief dentist Matupi Apaio says.
He said this while launching National Tooth Brushing Day at Ted Diro Primary School in the nation’s capital yesterday. 
The whole nation, represented regionally by Port Moresby, Lae, Kokopo and Mt Hagen, participated in a 10-second countdown before the first mass tooth-brushing exercise in Papua New Guinea.
An estimated 15,000 children in selected schools from those regions took part in yesterday’s event.
“Oral health is a problem in PNG for both children and adults and often results in tooth decay, mouth cancer and other gum diseases,” he said.
Apaio, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, said chewing too much betelnut was the leading cause of  mouth cancer as well as other oral diseases.
“This is commonly found in the adult
population and most patients normally go too late to the hospitals when it is often difficult to be treated,” he said.
He said the Health Department also had rural outreach programmes in place for oral health to be conducted.