South Africa: Sixteen Cavities, No Dentist - Children Live With Painful Tooth Decay As Oral Health Education Falls Short

Samkelisiwe Khumalo first noticed cavities in her daughter Unathi's teeth when she was four. Two years later, Unathi has sixteen cavities-six in her bottom teeth and ten in her upper. She has never seen a dentist.

"I think she got these cavities because I started teaching her to brush her teeth at a late age, when she was four. I didn't know that we must assist our children whenever they brush their teeth," Khumalo tells Health-e News.

"I had once shown her how to brush her teeth, and I assumed that was enough. I've also seen her doing exactly what I taught her. So, I didn't worry," she says.

The two closest clinics, Isipingo Municipal Clinic and Unjani Clinic Isipingo (a private clinic), only offer oral health services during health promotion campaigns run by the Department of Health or NGOs during Oral Health Month in September.

Khumalo says she received oral health education at Isipingo Clinic once, when Unathi was two years old, on an Oral Health Awareness Day.

Dr Bulela Vava, a dentist and founder of the Public Oral Health Forum, says oral health education at health facilities is lacking, and many clinics don't complete the oral health examination section of children's "Road to Health Card".

He attributes this to insufficient oral health training of nurses at primary care facilities.

"Oral health literacy should start during pregnancy when the mother goes to clinics for check-ups," Vava says. "Mothers should be taught how to take care of their children's teeth and be informed that it is important to assist their children to brush their teeth up to at least eleven years."

Vava recommends that caregivers start cleaning children's teeth from the age of two. From four to six, kids should be taught to brush their teeth in circular motions by themselves, with an adult supervising.

According to the World Health Organisation, tooth decay is the most common health condition globally. In South Africa, it's estimated that 41% of children under nine have untreated tooth decay.

Luthando Dlamini believes her five-year-old daughter's cavities started after she stopped giving her formula milk and replaced it with a flavoured rooibos tea marketed for children.

"I would overhear some ladies at the clinic, but I didn't take it seriously until it happened to my child. I just assumed the cause is because she likes to eat popcorn, and food made out of maize such as samp, mielies, and chips."

Her clinic, Halley Scott Community Health Centre in KwaNyuswa, offers oral health services, but Dlamini says she's never received any oral health education there.

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