Dying from decay

This claim comes from British dental health NGO Bridge2Aid (B2A).  “It is 2013 and people are still dying from untreated dental decay,” said Mark Topley, CEO of B2A. “Here in the UK we complain about a toothache but usually we can get treated within a few days at max.

“The shocking reality is that three-quarters of the world’s population have no access to even the most basic of dental services. Dental Caries as the dental profession calls them – or tooth decay – is the world’s most common disease. It causes debilitating pain and drastically affects a person’s ability to function.”

Major surgery can be needed to remove diseased tissue caused by untreated dental infection, and when a dental infection fails to ‘drain’ properly, the infection can track into the neck and then spread into the chest. This leads to tissue necrosis (tissue death) and septicemia (severe infection in the blood), often fatal. The only treatment is to cut away the necrotic tissue and give high doses of antibiotics. Sadly, this very rarely works.