The five most common oral health problems

The health of our mouth plays such an important role in our everyday lives and it’s often one of the first things that people notice about us – but what happens when something goes wrong?

As part of the charity campaign National Smile Month, its organisers, the Oral Health Foundation, and sponsors Oral-B have uncovered the five most common oral health problems in the United Kingdom, and are offering advice on how we can steer clear of them.

Toothache

Perhaps unsurprisingly, toothache is our most common oral health problem, being an issue for almost nine in ten Brits (88 per cent).

Uchenna Okoye, smile ambassador for Oral-B, says, “Most cases of toothache are caused by tooth decay. After we eat or drink anything containing sugar, the enamel and dentine of a tooth becomes softened by an acid attack. These acids attack the teeth and start to soften and dissolve the enamel. Over time, this acid can cause holes in the teeth which means that the nerve-endings underneath become exposed. It is this that causes us to experience pain.”