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MORE THAN HALF of adults in Europe don’t have all of their own teeth, according to a new survey.
The pan-European survey was released by GSK and Wrigley and surveyed 3,500 Europeans. Of these, 70 per cent said they were happy with their dental health, but half said they don’t have all of their natural teeth.
When it comes to Ireland, Irish respondents admitted to less frequent tooth brushing, with 84 per cent not brushing their teeth or flossing after meals compared to EU figures.
Plus, 25 per cent of Irish people said they eat between brushing their teeth and going to sleep “most of the time”.
Dentist
When it comes to visiting the dentist every year, 40 per cent of respondents said that cost was the main reason for not going.
In Ireland, 52 per cent of people said this, followed by people in the UK (50 per cent), Poland (50 per cent), and Italy and Spain (48 per cent each).
Cost was less of a concern in Germany and France, where only 20 per cent of respondents felt that the cost of visiting the dentist was prohibitive.
Just over half of Irish respondents see a dentist once a year (lower than EU average 70 per cent) and 30 per cent less than every 2 years or never. The same amount said they take their children to the dentist regularly.
The most important aspect to dental health and hygiene was seen by Irish and EU respondents as “keeping your natural teeth”.
Smiles
What country in Europe was most concerned about their smiles? The Spanish – 66 per cent ranked a healthy smile as a priority, compared to just 33 per cent in France, the lowest of all European countries.
While 81 per cent of those surveyed said that keeping all of their natural teeth was their top oral health priority, only 49 per cent actually had all of their natural teeth.
Of the countries surveyed, Poland scored particularly low in this area, with 70 per cent of Polish respondents reporting that they were missing at least one of their natural teeth.
Oral healthcare
Over 80 per cent of participants said they believed regular teeth brushing helps prevent cavities and dental plaque. But did they act on this? Well, 32 per cent reported brushing their teeth fewer than the recommended two times per day.
When it comes to chewing sugar-free gum, 74 per cent of survey participants did not associate it with oral health benefits, even though sugar-free chewing gum has been proven to help neutralise plaque acids.
Flossing, which is also beneficial to oral health, was underutilised, with 36 per cent of respondents saying they never flossed, even though close to 60 per cent saw flossing as key to helping prevent gum infections.
While over half of people said they understood mouthwash’s value in preventing dental plaque and gum infections, 63 per cent said that they don’t use it daily.
A healthy, balanced diet is essential to good oral health. Survey participants reported having a strong understanding of things that have a positive impact on dental health (eg vegetables, dairy products and water), and those that have a negative impact (eg smoking, etc).
Dr Andrew Bolas, President of the Irish Dental Association, concluded:
Cavities and gum diseases are easily preventable by a healthy and balanced diet combined with regular dental check-ups and routine hygiene practices, including proper brushing and the use of fluoride-containing toothpaste, inter-dental cleaning, chewing sugar-free chewing gum after meals and snacking, and getting regular dental check-ups. These simple tools could improve Europeans’ oral and overall health quickly and cost-effectively.
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Surely this is condidential contractual information between a renter and landlord?
…And revenue.ie?
in large areas this info is not so useful, finding an average rent for Dublin 2 two bed apartments is fairly meaningless, no distinction of brand new vs 30 years old, more expensive parts of post code vs less expensive. could be extremely misleading if at too broad a level, possibly worse than no info
I agree 100% unless they post prices with pictures together and also some detailed info of features and square size of living area, then it makes more sense and only then gives you fair idea. Usually the golden rule works in real estate: you get what you pay for..
no more misleading than the constant claims from daft that rents are rising (lies) this survey shows rents are actually falling in Dublin, and is certainly more trustworthy.
It certainly seems that rents are rising. Was away for 6 months and struggled to find apartment. Third less apartments on market now than a year ago.
This is a great step in the right direction . If ur in a block of apartments built at the same time this is very useful!
This information is key as it ensures transparency which prevent bubbles, speculation and the best value for all. It’s also not private information as all income is taxable and some people also receive state supports with their rent. All in all this is a good development.
Zegakly! Openness and transparency is for the good of all.
More snooping by government agencies I would imagine to try to get more money from people rather then trying to apply Amy real rules to the sector
I don’t think this is snooping. I’d say this has more to do with Rent Allowance being paid out by the state. It’ll give the government an idea on rents in a certain area and see if money can be saved.
This is confidential information.
Unless it’s in some way anonymized or averaged over an area it’s a violation of personal financial information.
This is a good thing. The private rented sector is the wild west of the property market. Half the landlords out there are either reluctant buy-to-let types without a clue of even the basics of business or fast buck merchants with a devil-may-care attitude to Residential Tenancies Act. The fact the the majority of cases in front of the PRTB are for illegally held deposits, 92% of flats in a recent investigation failed to meet even minimum legal standards (which are pretty damn low) and the fact that a sizable chunk of landlords out there that seem to think that because the are renting out property the laws of the land do not apply to them means that any move to regulate this sector is welcome.
The sector is unprofessional, legal standards are not enforced, prices vary widely (and are usually down to an individual’s negotiating skills or lack thereof) and the end product is both bad and overpriced. This is a disincentive to living and working in Dublin and needs to be addressed. Possibly the only worthwhile thing Labour have done in government so far.
I support this. It provides for greater transparency all around. Let’s not hope the data gets manipulated…
I know people who because of rent changes have now made agreement with their landlord to say the rent is a certain amount ( allowed for ur family size by the rent section) and then pay extra cash in hand to the landlord , so they don’t have to move yet again as its so hard to find houses within ur allowance and area u want to be in . I think the rent section and the councils should work together and buy property’s and rent them to tenants so in the long run the money goes into housing which the councils and sate own instead of paying landlords forever more ..
Not sure about the accuracy of this… No data for 1 bedroom apartments in Rathmines or Ranelagh (I thought there would be lots of those type of places there) yet the average rent of a 1 bedroom apartment in Wellington Dublin 6W is 1188.89 per month??!!
It seems like this might be a good idea. If they did a survey of asked for rents and paid rents, they could a: get a better idea of how much people are able to pay, and b: give rental property owners a better idea of what rents they should be asking for. I’ve always thought it was odd that rents aren’t based on what people, individually, pay but rather, are based on the average rents paid over large areas.
Have you tried to use the system? Not very easy to use……..
This is a serious breach of privacy. I don’t want people knowing how much rent I pay. It’s none of their business. What if an employer found out someone was paying very little rent and decided to deny a pay increase?
I think this is just another way of exposing people to the Revenue.
have your say