Did you know that the average American spends a total of 38.5 days brushing their teeth in their lifetime? By age seventeen, 78% of Americans have had at least one cavity. When a person does not go to the dentist, it affects the results of the teeth compared to when you clean them. Dental health means taking care of your mouth, which includes your teeth, gums, and tongue. Eating nutritious foods and avoiding smoking can help keep your gums and mouth healthy. Brushing and flossing eliminate plaque, which is the main cause of tooth decay and gum disease. Poor dental hygiene from a young age can cause serious health problems and lead to expensive dental procedures. Dental care from a young age is very important. When you start taking care of your teeth and start getting regular dental checkups, your mouth will stay healthier throughout your teenage and adult life. This helps prevent cavities and tooth decay in baby teeth. Americans spend more on dental care than citizens of any other country. In the years between 1960 and 2007, the increase in national spending on health care went from about $28 billion to reach $2.2 trillion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to the book Coverage and Cost it states: “In 2006 the United States alone spent more money on health care than any other country, with a total of $6,714 spent per person” this shows us how scandalous it has become If parents started taking care of their children's teeth by brushing them once their teeth were formed, this would be avoidable. It is important to start going to the dentist as soon as possible to keep their teeth healthy at a low cost lower for children than adults. According to the Dental Care and Insurance Expenses website article it states: “The adult population, which includes those aged 19 to 64, spent an average of 54.29. dollars per person per year for dental services. For ages under 19, the average dental cost is less than that of adults. The largest share of health care spending for adolescents and children is approximately 12%. In the age group 65 and over, dental care expenses represent approximately 2.5% of all private healthcare expenses for this group." There are more health problems for teenagers because adults tend to eat and drink more things that can damage the teeth such as bread and drink soft drinks that are very bad for the teeth. This is important to know if you want proper dental health so you don't age and start losing teeth due to tooth decay. There are many health problems caused by tooth decay. Poor oral health can be associated with dehydration, heart disease and poor blood sugar control. This happens if you don't brush your teeth and gums, which causes the gums to separate from the teeth, therefore creating a small space under the gum line allowing bacteria to enter and start hiding and growing. Right from that small space all the bacteria can then enter through the bloodstream and travel to the heart and other serious organs, damaging them. Dental hygiene also affects a person's mental health, well-being, nutritional status, speaking ability, self-confidence and well-being. In fact, most adults or seniors haven't been to the dentist in more than five years. Most oral diseases that people get do not arise from old age but from side effects and medicationsthat they received. With routine preventative care, many of the oral health problems among older adults could have been avoided. To keep your teeth healthy, a toothbrush is an essential tool. There are soft nylon bristles on the toothbrush head that protect the tooth. The important part is the mechanical action that helps remove plaque. If you want to dispel this myth and improve the oral health of adolescents and adults, it is important that healthcare professionals provide you with the best training and background to support oral health. More developed training protocols that consist of removing bacterial plaque from the teeth, cleaning the oral mucosa, and oral hydration have proven to have a huge impact on oral health. oral health status of elderly patients. These protocols help the patient realize their dental hygiene problems and how they should take care of their teeth so that this does not happen again. Oral hygiene can also affect nutritional status, speaking ability, self-esteem, mental well-being and general well-being. For proper dental practice it is important to identify aspects of oral dentistry such as physical and sexual abuse and poor oral health as a child so you can manage them early so you don't have serious problems as you get older. Physical abuse can be oral or facial trauma, especially in children who are physically abused. In some studies it is said that “oral and facial trauma occur in approximately 50% of children who are victims of physical abuse”. Signs of physical abuse are bruises, abrasions of the lip, tongue, frenulum, tooth fractures, etc. Sexual abuse is usually seen in children through the oral cavity, but in some cases visible oral infections or lesions may also occur. Dental neglect is one of the leading causes of poor oral health because it does not give the child the opportunity to receive proper cleanings and the opportunity to have their mouth checked for cavities. Therefore it is very important to visit the dentist regularly to prevent not only cavities but also bad breath, odontogenic infections, periodontal diseases, etc. When a person does not take care of their teeth, it leads to expensive dental work. In the article “The Nations Health” we read “According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 4 million US children had unmet dental needs in 2012 because their families could not afford dental care.” Most patients come because of an oral health emergency, but when they discover the clinic's affordable costs they continue to return for additional visits. According to the Oklahoma City Clinic they say, “Their clinic will accept all patients 8 years of age and older, this gives them a wide range of prices that have been reduced for dental services. For example, preventative cleanings range from $50 to $60 for extractions. The dentist has three dental chairs that are constantly filled with patients and in high demand, Gutierrez says. More than 7,000 surgeries have been performed in the clinic and over 1,3,000 patients have been treated in the last year alone. The vast majority of these had no dental insurance and paid out of pocket.” Many people's excuse for having poor dental hygiene is that they can't afford it or don't have the time, but in reality dental clinics are very affordable and are willing to take advantage of your time since it is their job to take care of your healthy teeth. There are millions of Americans who are still trying to secure or access affordable healthcare. Although access to this is still lagging especially in cases.