The association between income inequality and oral health
BY READERS DIGEST
11th Jan 2022 Wellbeing
Excellent oral health is one of those few things considered priceless in any individual’s life.
This is because excellent oral health provides such an individual with overall good health and some extra confidence, especially in public. This means that the individual will find it easy to communicate and interact with people without being ashamed of the state of their oral health. When an individual enjoys perfect oral health, there is often improved appearance, improved overall health, and more. All these factors contribute to making the concept of excellent oral health priceless.
However, proper care is required to achieve the priceless feeling associated with excellent oral health. Thornhill dentist Dr. Price explained that oral health care could be cost-effective or expensive, based on choice. What he means by this is that when you adequately care for your oral health from an early stage, it can be a pretty simple and less expensive process. However, if you allow dental issues to develop before caring for your oral health, then the process can become more complicated and expensive at that point.
Surveys have shown that individuals from poor and uncivilized backgrounds have high oral health issues because they lack the knowledge and resources to maintain excellent oral health.
This article will explain the association between income inequality and oral health and the ways income inequality affects oral health. Read on to more investing information about your dental health.
Factors that explain the association between income inequality and oral health
Income inequality means a lack of money or revenue. This condition impacts oral health to understand how we look at the factors that can lead to income inequality associated with income inequality and oral health. These factors are:
- Socio-economic factor: This factor concerns the economy of an environment. Results have shown that regions with a struggling or poor economy are home to many oral health issues. These regions lack the income or resources to acquire standard oral health facilities to help guide them in the correct oral healthcare routines or check on them when they have oral health issues. Some regions suffer from income inequality because of the low development index (LDI). Diverse observations have shown that people in poor socio-economic regions have a high rate of oral disease than those in a standard socio-economic region.
- Education: Another reason for income inequality is the lack of education. When individuals lack the knowledge needed to bring growth and development, individuals who lack education experience difficulty adopting beneficial habits or introducing beneficial things because they lack the income needed to introduce them. Poorly educated people sparsely can afford essential oral health care equipment, increasing oral health issues.
Educated individuals with basic income maintain excellent oral health for extended periods than educated persons with no income, as results show that educated persons having income inequalities are liable to suffer from oral health diseases. Likewise, uneducated people lack the income to care for their health, resulting in oral health disease. Although education depends on the region, an uneducated individual in a well-organized economic setting will easily access dental facilities than an uneducated individual in a poor economic setting.
Economic region and education are factors that describe how income inequality is associated with oral health. Regions with poor education and economic income suffer from income inequality, resulting in not acquiring essential oral health care equipment, specialties, or facilities.
Types of oral healthcare
Understanding the association between oral health and income inequality is explained by understanding the relationship between income and primary oral healthcare. The types of oral health care stated below are designed considering that economic factors and education are in place. They are:
- Preventive oral healthcare: This involves oral healthcare routines to prevent oral health diseases from occurring. These routines involve using essential equipment and standard methods of caring for oral health. They are:
- Visit the dentist at least twice a year.
- Use fluoride-containing toothpaste to brush the teeth, and brush the teeth regularly, at least twice a day.
- Eating healthy nutrition like food with low sugar content.
- Avoid drinking and smoking.
This is the most cost-effective form of oral healthcare because it demands less income in caring for the mouth.
- Corrective oral healthcare: This involves caring for the teeth after oral diseases. This oral health care is more expensive because it demands more skill, knowledge, and advanced treatments. An example of this oral healthcare is:
- Dental surgeries.
Conclusion
Income inequality is associated with oral health because it is difficult to maintain excellent oral health without adequate income, although some oral healthcare is more demanding than others. This article explains better.
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