September 20 is the 21st National Teeth-care Day. The theme of this year is: “Maintain Oral Health, Improve Life Quality”.

Oral health marks a country's level of civilization and is an important component of public health. During Teeth-care Day, centering on the theme, Beijing will carry out free consultations, health lecture room and a series of health education activities to promote the importance of oral health in improving quality of life, and to make the public aware that oral diseases are preventable and curable.

Now, more and more people have realized that without health, quality of life would be at risk. Listed as one of the 10 human health criteria by World Health Organization, Oral health is a mirror which reflects human health and life quality. Oral cavity plays a role in chewing, pronunciation and maintaining facial coordination. Oral disease would be a threat to systemic health, causing and exacerbating a number of systemic diseases which would affect people's quality of life.

Oral disease may lead to many diseases. For example, oral diseases pathogens and their toxins produced can invade the blood, causing heart diseases such as endocarditis and coronary heart disease. In addition, oral disease and aspiration pneumonia are closely affiliated. Studies have shown that 80% of pneumonia is caused by inhalation of oral and pharyngeal secretions caused by bacteria.

Besides, diabetes and periodontal disease have common risk factors. According to statistics, there is a high incidence of periodontal disease in diabetic population, and severe disease progresses rapidly.

Periodontal disease is the main reason for tooth loss among the elderly. According to the third national oral epidemiological study, periodontal disease is prevalent among middle-aged citizens (incidence rate exceeding 90%); the elderly have less than 15 teeth on average, and 11% of the elderly have no teeth left. Periodontal disease is badly affecting people's life and quality of life.

In recent years, the municipal government has involved oral health care into the public health management system, and established a long-term mechanism. For example, the city has started a project called "pit and fissure sealant" to prevent decayed tooth for school-aged children in 2005 free of charge. As of the end of August this year, about 440,000 children have enjoyed the service, and 860,000 teeth have been effectively protected. Started in June this year, the city has launched a “free dental inlay for full-mouth toothless elderly with subsistance allowances” project. Up to September 7, the community service centers have provided free oral examination for over 2,000 elderly people, and informed 785 elderly people of filling of their false tooth. Now, there are already 150 elderly people wearing full-mouth false teeth, terminating their gum-eating for a long time. It is expected that around Double Ninth Festival, all the elderly people with subsistence allowances in the city that comply with the conditions for teeth filling will gradually wear dentures.

In the announcement Healthy Beijing--The Decade Action Plan published by the municipal government this year, "Teeth Action" will be one of the significant actions under this theme from now on.