Only 45% Indians Brush Their Teeth Twice Daily: Global Oral Health Study

32 percent Indians reported high sugary food consumption frequency. The corresponding percentage in China was only 11. 

(Photo: Altered by FIT)

Only 45 percent Indians brush their teeth twice daily, the latest global oral health assessment found. This is a significantly low number compared to the 78-83 percent that China, Colombia, Italy, and Japan reported. 

Indians also majorly have a sweet tooth. The study, conducted by the Geneva-based Oral Health Observatory in 12 countries and published in the International Dental Journal, said,

“In India, patients reported the highest sugary food consumption frequency, with 32 percent.”

Here’s all you need to know.

The Study’s Findings:

• People in India and China brush before having breakfast. People in Colombia, Italy, and Japan brush after having eaten. 

• 32 percent Indians reported high sugary food consumption frequency. The corresponding percentage in China was only 11. 

• 51 percent people who participated in the study from India said they’d visited a dentist once in the last year, compared to 80 percent in Japan. But people in India and China were also the “most likely to have never visited a dentist,” The New Indian Express reported. 

• 80 percent of the study participants from Japan said that they had poor oral health. This was not the case in any other country where the study was conducted, with people mostly saying they had good oral health.

• But, a majority of the study participants reported having faced “difficulty eating or chewing” at least once in the past year. 

Reasons for Not Visiting Dentists:

• No severe oral concern

• Don’t like going to dentists

• Afraid of going to dentists

• Busy schedule

Why This Is Important: A report published by the World Health Organization in November last year had said that over the last 30 years, oral diseases have increased by 1 billion globally.

Not just that, the report had stated that three out of every four people affected by oral diseases live in low or middle-income countries.

At the time, FIT had reported:

• An estimated 2.5 billion people suffer from untreated dental caries

• 1 billion people suffer from severe gum disease (which causes total tooth loss)

• Nearly 3,80,000 people suffer from oral cancers every year