It costs nothing to smile and medical experts have also proven that you use fewer muscles to smile than to frown but the cost of keeping those Samoan smiles is proving to be a challenge.

Dentists from across Samoa met at the Samoa Cultural Centre in Malifa on Thursday. It was revealed that the dentist to patient ratio in Samoa is 1:2000 and there are just three dentists in all of Savaii.

According to the head of the Samoa Dental Association Sala Dr. Ionatana Faatonu, focus on oral health in the public health system had been neglected in the last few years and this has resulted to lack of resources, the poor state of the building where the oral health services are located and dentists leaving for greener opportunities.

As pointed out by the good doctor, oral health in Samoa has deteriorated over the years and according to him, this is now becoming a burden on the health system.

Let us look at the last survey on oral health that was done by the World Health Organisation. This was done in 2020.

Prevalence of untreated caries of deciduous teeth in children between 1-9 years is 46.6 per cent, prevalence of untreated caries of permanent teeth in people over 5 years is 34.9 per cent, prevalence of severe periodontal disease in people over 15 years is three per cent while prevalence of edentulism in people over 20 years is seven per cent.

According to WHO, incidents of oral cancer have also increased over the years. In 2020, Samoa had 19 dentists, three years later we just have 20. It seems there is also no interest from students to take up dentistry.

Dr Faatonu also pointed out a key factor affecting oral health in recent times. He said there was the question of affordability as well. There are some Samoan families who would forgo the purchase of toothpaste for food.

The recently released Consumer Price Index is only evident of the increase in prices and supporting the argument presented by the dentist.

There are also suggestions that the awareness around oral health care also seems to be absent from schools, communities and at national level which is why there are so many cases of decay and diseases in children in Samoa.

A good point has been raised by Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa who was the guest of honour. She had a nostalgic moment when she recalled how there used to be mobile dental clinics visiting schools and or schools having their own dental rooms.

She has asked the public health system to bring this back.

Fiame also pointed out a key thing. She said the government policies for each of the ministries’ performance was laid out and all except the Ministry of Health failed to follow the policy.

This shows how political allegiance is coming in the way of benefitting the people of Samoa. It does not matter what political affiliation the heads of government should have. They prefer the former, it is their choice and if they prefer the current, it is still their choice.

But under no circumstances should this choice come in the way of service delivery and the end result would impact on the common Samoan. Perhaps this is what we are seeing in the Ministry of Health.

The burden on the system has increased in all aspects. The oral health care, the public hospital, nurses and doctors or rather the lack of it, there is no real work being done to reduce non-communicable diseases.

While some may think that increasing budgetary allocation would help, to some extent, what is needed is to follow a plan and stick to it until the end result is achieved.

Going back to Samoa’s beautiful smiles, the Ministry of Health needs to partner up with the Ministry of Education and ensure that there is a time each day for students to brush their teeth, preferably after lunch each day, without fail.

Include dental health or oral health care in school curriculum. We do know that the dentists are outnumbered by patients but a mobile dental team needs to be set up which makes trips to all schools in Samoa at least twice a year.

The Government may consider increasing pay for dentists to entice more young people to take up the profession and also make scholarships available to that effect. A new building for dental care in the hospital would also help.

As this is also a case of prevention rather than cure, as parents and elders, everyone has a responsibility to make sure we maintain those beautiful Samoan smiles.