Youngsters risking their oral health
Young people are putting their oral health at risk according to statistics released by the NHS Information Centre.
The figures show that nearly half of 11 to 15 year olds have consumed alcohol and 27 percent of youngsters admit to smoking, a proportion which is higher than the adult population. More than half of participants said that it was acceptable to drink alcohol and one third said that smoking was acceptable.
Although the figures seem shocking, they actually represent an improvement from 10 years ago. Despite the improvement, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter, believes that the trends amongst young people are a cause for concern. Dr Carter warned that smoking increases the risk of gum disease, the most common oral health disease and both smoking and drinking are risk factors for oral cancer; people who smoke and drink increase their risk of developing the life-threatening disease thirty-fold.
Dr Carter has urged parents and young people to think about their health before they drink or smoke; the figures show that young people are drinking more than the recommended daily consumption for adult men and the proportion of young people who smoke is also higher than the proportion of adults, meaning that young people are really putting their general and oral health at risk.
Mouth cancer is becoming increasingly common and experts have identified drinking and smoking as major risk factors; most young people will be unaware of the damage their lifestyle habits could be doing and they may discover this when it is too late; as a result of this, Dr Carter has called for better education for young people, so that they aware of the potential implications of drinking and smoking from a young age.
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