Toothache is no longer trivial, experts say the impact can be detrimental to the country

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ministry of Health revealed that dental and oral health problems in Indonesia are high. This fact was revealed through data from the Free Health Check Program, which has started since the beginning of 2025.

"According to data from the Ministry of Health's Free Health Check Program, which has reached 63.5 million people, dental problems are among the top 5 found in all age groups," said the Director of Health Promotion and Community Health of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, dr. Elvieda Sariwati, M.Epid, at a press conference in the Cipete area, Jakarta, on Wednesday, December 17, 2025.

Professor of Periodontology from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Padjajaran, Prof. Dr. Amaliya, drg, M.Sc, Ph.D, said that there were several factors that caused high dental and oral problems in Indonesia. One of them is the lack of literacy about it in the community.

"Some risk factors that affect the high rate of gum disease in Indonesia include low dental and oral health literacy, high smoking habits, poor eating habits," explained Prof. Amaliya.

In addition, many people also focus on dental problems, and ignore gum health. In fact, on the gums there can be inflammation, which if left can go to the bones and teeth become loose, until finally they fall out.

Most people with gum disease also come to the dentist in the stage of periodontitis, so they need more complex and expensive treatment. This condition also affects community productivity and causes massive economic losses.

Thus, Unilever Indonesia through the Pepsodent brand held the Indonesia Hygiene Forum 2025 (IHF 2025), which raised the topic of the risk of gum disease on productivity and overall body health.

"The results of this discussion have been published in The Journal of Dentistry entitled 'The Burden of Periodontal Disease in Southeast Asia (Indonesia and Vietnam): A Call to Action' containing various current scientific facts that we are raising today through IHF 2025 to open the eyes of more people to the importance of maintaining gum health," said Personal Care Community Lead Unilever Indonesia, drg. Ratu Mirah Afifah, GCCLindent., MDSc.

IHF 2025 also formulated a number of recommendations and collaboration strategies that are needed to jointly address gum disease in Indonesia in the future.

Some of them are national programs for the collection of epidemiological and economic data to measure the financial and human resource burden associated with dental and oral diseases, and the integration of dental and oral health strategies into national health policies.

"Several of these points are very in line with the agenda that is being encouraged by the Indonesian Ministry of Health. We are grateful for the recommendations that have been prepared, and are open to discussing and collaborating in making them a reality," concluded Dr. Elvieda.