That is the tagline and vision statement for the National Oral Health Plan(NOHP) 2010 for Malaysia.

I just attended the MDA/FDI Scientific Convention(MDA stands for Malaysian Dental Association and FDI is short for Dentaire Internationale or federation of National Dental Associations) over the weekend and attended a number of lectures,some more educational than others.Well,if you want to see many,many dentists(shudder!) all at the same time(yikes!),in the same place,these kind of conventions would be the place to be in.  

Amongst the many lectures/sessions,there was one which was presented by the Oral Health Division of the Ministry of Health of Malaysia.Dr Choo Yoke Yuen,who is the Principal Assistant Director of Oral Health Division,presented an update on the NOHP 2010.The NOHP was initiated in year 2001 to improve the oral health of the nation and recently there was a review to track the progress and achievements of this plan thus far,hence the NOHP 2010 of Malaysia.

I sat there listening to someone passionately sharing about objectives and goals of the nation to improve the oral health of individuals,from children to adults.She talked about successes thus far as well as goals yet to be achieved.Strategies to achieve these goals were mentioned.

And for some moments there,I just felt a little sad.Here I was,in a convention hall with a small group of dentists,of whom I was probably one of the very few from the private sector.Most of those attending this particular lecture were from the public services.The rest of the world(ie private practitioners,were either attending another lecture running concurrently,or busy buying dental products from the host of dental exhibitors there).The Health Ministry may be achieving their oral health goals in the last 6 years and aiming for more in the coming years;but what are the dental practitioners in the private sector doing to help? By this I mean,there need to be a lot more done to educate the public and preventive measures done intentionally.Prevention is after all better than cure.There is still so many out there who are not aware of the importance of proper oral health care.

However,on a positive note,the general public are becoming more discerning and are increasingly willing to be educated about their oral and dental health.And parents are beginning to bring their children for dental checks at a young age,before any problem sets in.And children are generally being exposed to dental clinics and dentists at a younger age,where the environment is non-threatening.So,hopefully,we will have a next generation of people with not only much better teeth,but also not fearful of the dentist! Yay!