Calling Bucky Beaver

SHANGHAI: At least 80 per cent of Chinese adults have dental problems and 57 per cent of rural Chinese - or 500 million people - have never brushed their teeth, state media reported.

Experts from the National Leading Group for Dental Disease Prevention -- which launched a nationwide dental health campaign -- found that only 0.22 per cent of China's adult population have good dental health, the Xinhua news agency said.

Statistics from a recent survey in Beijing also show that dental problems are a major threat to the health of elderly Chinese, as one fifth of senior citizens have never seen a dentist in their life, Xinhua said.

Over 60 per cent of the people surveyed regarded loosing teeth tooth as only natural.

Meanwhile, less than two per cent of Chinese adults go for routine checkups and teeth cleaning, Feng Xiping, who heads the committee for the study of epidemic dental diseases under the National Leading Group, announced in Shanghai Friday.
The group's nationwide dental health care campaign will provide free dental checkups for 120,000 citizens in 12 large and medium-sized cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The campaign was launched in June and will last for three months.