Dental and mouth disease on the rise

Dental and mouth disease on the rise

BANDUNG: Dental and mouth diseases among Indonesians is on the
rise in the last 20 years with 90 percent of the population
having suffered with dental and mouth problems.

Speaking at a meeting on dental health here on Monday, Ahmad
Djojosugito, director general of medical services at the Ministry
of Health, said that a 1998 study found that Indonesians had lost
an average of four teeth due to the dental disease.

Another speaker, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia,
Ascobat Gani said his research in East Nusa Tenggara province in
1998, found that dental and mouth disease resulted in a loss
equivalent to Rp 175 billion in the province.

"While the province revenue was only Rp 35 billion then," he
said adding that due to the disease people were forced to become
absent from productive activity.

"Those suffering from dental disease in East Nusa Tenggara
have lost a total of 76-years productive time. The Rp 175 billion
comes from the unproductive years multiplied by the then local
minimum wage," Ascobat explained. (25/sur)