Some 90 Pct Of Indonesian People Have Toothache Or Other Oral Diseases

Bandarlampung, (ANTARA News)- Some 90 percent of the Indonesian people had toothache or other oral diseases one time or another, which may delevop into a serious condition, unless proper medical treatment is applied, a noted dentist said.

"It means that the damaged tooth is difficult to cure," dentist Zaura Rini Matram, head of the Indonesian Dentists Association (PDGI) said here Tuesday.

Apart from that, an average of 1.3 percent of the 230 million Indonesian population have toothache every month, unabling them to go to work or to school for an average of 3.86 days each month.

However, some 87 percent of the people with toothache are reluctant to see a dentist and the rest peferred to treat their ailment themselves, she said.

Meanwhile, Prof Ismet Danial Nasution said in Indonesia there is only one dentist to every 10,000 people, while the ideal ratio should be one to every 2,000 people.

He also said the country has only 12 medical faculties, so it is very difficult to reach this ideal ratio without building more medical faculties.(*) end