Eighty percent of the young children in UAE, aged from six to twelve years, have been found suffer from tooth decay according to health statistics.
Ibrahim Abdullah bin Araab, Director of the Dental Department at the UAE Ministry of Health (MoH), which conducted the statistical study, was quoted by Khaleej Times as saying that awareness among parents and children on the need to brush regularly and visit dental clinics routinely is very low.
He said that most parents believe that temporary teeth, known as "milk teeth", are not important, whereas they are essential for speech development, digestion and the psychological health of the child.
According to the specialist, the child should get used to the habit of brushing at least twice a day, in the morning and before going to bed at night.
"The ministry has a UAE-wide prevention program to create awareness among school-aged students on the need to brush and take care of their teeth. In Sharjah, the Sharjah Oral Health Project has covered most school-aged children in public and private schools, by presenting awareness lectures to the children and their parents and distributing tooth paste and tooth brushes," Bin Araab said.
Around 130,000 tooth paste and tooth brush kits, provided by the Signal Company, are distributed annually to children in schools in the UAE – Albawaba.com
