Dental hygienists and dentists from the Murcian Health Service have given talks to over 7,000 six-year-old children in their schools to promote dental care.
This promotion and prevention activity for oral health in schools began in 2024 and will progressively increase to children aged three, nine, and 12 years. To date, 50 percent of six-year-old children have been covered, specifically 7,057 children from different educational centers in the Region.
The ages of three, six, nine, and 12 are crucial in the dental development of children, as at three years old, the deciduous or milk dentition is usually completed, at six years old, the replacement begins and the first permanent molars erupt, at nine years old, the child is usually in mixed dentition (permanent and deciduous), and by 12 years old, they usually have all permanent dentition, except for the wisdom teeth that will erupt later.
These and other activities aim to reduce the incidence of cavities and other dental diseases to improve the overall health of children and promote healthy habits that last a lifetime.
Tomorrow, March 20, World Oral Health Day is celebrated, with the goal of raising awareness among the population about the importance of hygienic-dietary habits in both adults and children to prevent oral diseases.
The Comprehensive Oral Health Program of the Region of Murcia merges the common portfolio of oral health services from the Ministry of Health with the complementary portfolio (defined by the Autonomous Community), which will further increase services for certain groups of the Murcian population to reduce the incidence of cavities and other dental diseases in the population.
Some of the improvements included in the regional complementary portfolio are root canals in permanent molars due to cavities in children up to nine years old, treatment in permanent and deciduous teeth in disabled patients, rehabilitative treatment in cancer patients with head and neck tumors, and patients with rare diseases affecting oral health permanently, with treatments to achieve proper chewing function.
In the field of oral health, the SMS works on different levels of prevention: primary, with a fundamental role in Education for Oral Health, carried out in Oral Health Units, families, and educational centers; secondary, with early diagnosis of cavities and other dental diseases, and tertiary, which involves invasive treatment of observed lesions (fillings and root canals).
These actions are carried out in healthcare centers, as well as in families and educational centers to be effective.
These measures are part of the Health Education Plan in Schools of the Region of Murcia, where the health promotion activities included in the School Community Health Care Program (PACES) are developed periodically by school nurses and professionals from Oral Health Units in educational centers.
The goal is to reduce the incidence of oral pathology in the population, preserve chewing function, create healthy hygienic-dietary habits, and improve quality of life from early stages of life.
«Promoting and preventing oral health in schools is essential to ensure that children develop healthy habits from an early age,» emphasized by CARM.
