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World Oral Health Day
Every March 20, La Chaîne de l'Espoir joins forces to celebrate World Oral Health Day, highlighting the crucial importance of dental health to overall well-being.
What is World Oral Health Day?
This day offers a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of oral health issues and promote essential hygiene practices that contribute to a healthier life. Oral health problems, such as cavities, gum disease and tooth loss, are widespread worldwide, with a particularly high prevalence in the African region. Most of these conditions are preventable.
Oral health is more than just the aesthetics of a smile. It is a fundamental pillar of overall health, influencing digestion, nutrition and even self-confidence.
What can you do on World Oral Health Day?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), oral diseases will affect around 43.7% of the population in the African Region in 2019.
Noma stands out as one of the diseases celebrated on World Oral Health Day. Predominantly found in sub-Saharan Africa, this necrotic disease affects children aged 2 to 6 suffering from malnutrition, infectious disease, extreme poverty and a weakened immune system. In addition to disfigurement, noma leads to eating difficulties, various disorders (hearing, speech, breathing), stigmatization and social exclusion. Without treatment, the disease is fatal in 90% of cases.
Since 2014, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has been stepping up its efforts in the fight against noma by adopting a global approach, combining prevention, care for affected children, and training in reconstructive surgery for local healthcare staff. These actions are essential to prevent and treat noma in the long term.
“The consequences of maxillofacial pathologies are manifold. On a functional level, children have difficulty eating properly, speaking correctly and sometimes even breathing. But also aesthetically, because it’s also a disfiguring disease. Children are often hidden away, socially excluded, protected by their parents from the malevolent gaze of those around them.” – Dr Rokiatou Koné, plastic surgeon in Mali
Dental hygiene and heart surgery
In both open and closed-heart surgery, the patient’s dental health is an essential prerequisite. Teeth in poor condition represent a potential source of infection, which can lead to septic complications. Prior to cardiac surgery, it is therefore preferable for the patient’s teeth to be in good condition. At La Chaîne de l’Espoir, particular attention is paid to the dental condition of children undergoing cardiac surgery, and dental treatment is sometimes preceded by cardiac surgery.
Together, let’s work for a future where every smile tells a story of health and well-being. La Chaîne de l’Espoir remains committed to its mission of making oral health accessible to all.
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