Muted Acknowledgement of Merits Associated with “Treat Your Mouth” by Dental and Allied Professions.

It is impossible to wish everyone a very happy year 2005. Sadly everyone is not here. Because of the Tsunami disaster. It is impossible to think of this new year, 2005, without thinking about the tens of thousands of people whose lives were catastrophically affected by the recent Tsunami disaster in South East Asia. May those of us who have not been directly affected direct much of our efforts during 2005 towards helping the survivors and also the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives, to rebuild their lives and livelihoods during the years ahead of us.

Just a couple of days ago my attention was drawn, by a parent of a 6 year child who attends a local government school in Adelaide South Australia the oral hygiene instruction (OHI) issued to children in that school. This child had been instructed about 6 weeks ago to write a sign on a piece of paper with the words “ Do Not Rinse” and to then fix the sign to the bathroom wall at home. Apparently children had been told to execute the OHI “Brush Your Teeth” however to not follow it with the usual rinsing with water, but instead to spit the paste out, thereby leaving a coating of tooth paste in their mouths. Thus the OHI became “Brush Your Teeth, But Do Not Rinse Your Mouth”

It is now 2 years and 6 months since I notified the South Australian School Dental Service of my new oral hygiene instruction “Treat Your Mouth”. At that time I was advised they held no interest for my ideas. But my concern is that their OHI “Brush Your Teeth , But Do Not Rinse Your Mouth” is still a flawed OHI. Why?

“Brush Your Teeth, But Do Not Rinse Your Mouth” is a tooth instruction. No mention of gums and of tongue as taught in the OHI “Treat Your Mouth”.
“Brush Your Teeth, But Do Not Rinse Your Mouth” does not rid the mouth of all undesirable food and drink remnants. True, it will leave a coating of toothpaste ingredients on all surfaces within the mouth but it is not a totally clean mouth and not a guarantee of preventing oral disease.
“Brush Your Teeth, But Do Not Rinse Your Mouth” is not an OHI which, if executed throughout life, will successfully prevent the easily preventable oral diseases such as tooth decay, gum disease and bad breath.

Instructing children in the OHI “Treat Your Mouth” will, with greater certainty, help children to prevent oral diseases not only throughout their childhood but also throughout their entire lives. Ideally “Treat Your Mouth” should be a part of a comprehensive oral healthcare education for primary school aged children. One, such as The MouthWise Oral HealthCare School-on-the-Web found at http://www.oralhealthhelpsite.com/ , which uses the MouthWise oral health education resources; The MouthWise Oral HealthCare Manual 2 and the MouthWise Oral Health C.D. “4 Your Smile 2 Shine”.

However it is interesting to note similarities with my OHI “Treat Your Mouth”. It reminds me that prior to publication of The MouthWise Oral HealthCare Manual 2 I had submitted to an international tooth paste and tooth brush manufacturing company an earlier draft text copy offering them an opportunity to market mouth paste and a mouth treater. Their written reply was “no interest”. Within three years they had introduced a tooth paste which they referred to as “ a whole mouth paste’ and a tooth brush which they referred to as a “tooth gum brush”. Mutedl acknowledgemens.