SYDNEY, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Millions of cases of tooth decay could be prevented if Australia introduced a 20 percent tax on sugar, according to new research from Australia's Griffith University.
The study estimated that such a tax could prevent 3.7 million cases of tooth decay, 191,000 cases of gum disease and 115,000 cases of complete tooth loss, Professor Lennert Veerman from Griffith's School of Medicine and Dentistry said in a statement released Wednesday.
A 20 percent tax would also generate approximately 500,000 health-adjusted life years for Australia's 2019 population over their lifetime, through improvements in dental health and reductions in weight-related illness, according to the findings published in BMJ Public Health.
Oral diseases affect about 3.5 billion people globally, while nearly 32 percent of Australian adults have untreated tooth decay, the study noted.
The research found that males would experience the most health benefits from a sugar tax, as they consume more sugary drinks and have higher baseline levels of some oral diseases. ■