Health Factors
There are a number of risk factors which are associated with both general health and oral health. For example tobacco smoking, which is the single most important cause of death and illness, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cancers including oral cancer; it is also an important risk factor in gum disease, people who smoke have poorer gum health. Another example is alcohol, excessive use of which is a major risk factor in mental illness.
Consumption of alcohol, combined with smoking are major risk factors in the incidence of oral cancer. Poor nutrition is a common risk factor for cardiovascular, cancers & oral diseases.
Preventive Strategies
It is clear therefore that when considering strategies for the control of oral diseases, they should not be developed in isolation but as part of a "common risk factor approach" designed to control those risks common to a number of chronic diseases. For all health professionals and the wider community, the common risk factor approach is particularly efficient in health promotion (Sheiham 1992).
