Community Centre offers hope by focused approach of providing preventive knowledge via education and treatment to disadvantaged and poor population groups. Community Centre hopes to play an active role in the following: --

Fluoride exposure

Dental cavities can be prevented by maintaining a constant low level of fluoride in the oral cavity. Fluoride can be obtained from fluoridated drinking water, salt and toothpaste, as well as from professionally- applied fluoride or mouth rinse. In villages fluoridated toothpaste is the only product readily available, and the beneficial effects of using fluoridated toothpaste for oral health are optimized if brushing is performed twice a day, using proper brushing technique, because this maintains a consistent low concentration of fluoride in the oral cavity. Community Centre will create both awareness plus via our team of volunteer dentist help in applied fluoride or supervised mouth rinses.

Knowledge & Hygiene Habits

The mass awareness of oral health practices is very low in India, especially in rural communities which tend to place a low importance on oral hygiene. They were neither aware of factors that could cause oral health problems nor any preventative measures that could be taken to prevent oral health issues. Instructional oral health videos with lessons addressing the consequences and remedial action will be shown at Community Centre.

Access to Care

In rural India, the dentist to population ratio can be as high as one dentist for every 250,000 residents, while the ratio is estimated at one dentist to every 10,000 in urban areas. At the same time, 72.2% of the population in India resides in rural areas. There has been an increase in the number of dental colleges, but only 2% of dental specialists are trained in community dentistry, the specialization that would typically practice in rural areas. Community Centre will improve access to care.

Substance Use

Tobacco is generally accepted to be a harmful substance; its use has been correlated to numerous diseases, including coronary heart disease, respiratory diseases, diabetes, ulcers, and many forms of cancer, including oral, lung, kidney and pancreas. Additionally, it has significant effects on the oral health of users. Tobacco use is associated with heightened periodontal breakdown, poorer standards of oral health and subsequent premature tooth loss. In periodontal disease, smoking has been identified as major risk factor . Chewing tobacco is also a significant risk factor correlated with gingival inflammation and periodontal disease. Both the use of chewing tobacco and smoking cigarettes are risk factors in the development of caries. Chewing tobacco is especially significant, as its contents include a high proportion of sugar. Finally, tobacco use is highly correlated with the presence of oral cancer, with 95% of oral cancers directly related to tobacco use. The use of tobacco has a clear impact on a person’s oral health status.

There is also evidence of a correlation between alcohol use and dental caries. Daily alcohol consumption was positively associated with dental decay and the presence of more calculus as compared to non- consumers.