Celebrating the Year of Oral Health: changing public expectation and challenges for the profession (original) (raw)
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Journal of dental …, 2003
Academic dental institutions are the fundamental underpinning of the nation's oral health. Education, research, and patient care are the cornerstones of academic dentistry that form the foundation upon which the dental profession rises to provide care to the public. The oral health status of Americans has improved dramatically over the past twenty-five to thirty years. In his 2000 report on oral health, the Surgeon General acknowledges the success of the dental profession in improving the oral health status of Americans over the past twenty-five years, but he also juxtaposes this success to profound and consequential disparities in the oral health of Americans. In 2002, the American Dental Education Association brought together an ADEA President's Commission of national experts to explore the roles and responsibilities of academic dental institutions in improving the oral health status of all Americans. They have issued this report and made a variety of policy recommendations, including a Statement of Position, to the 2003 ADEA House of Delegates. The commission's work will help guide ADEA in such areas as: identifying barriers to oral health care, providing guiding principles for academic dental institutions, anticipating workforce needs, and improving access through a diverse workforce and the types of oral health providers, including full utilization of allied dental professionals and collaborations with colleagues from medicine.
Journal of Dental Education, 2003
Academic dental institutions are the fundamental underpinning of the nation's oral health. Education, research, and patient care are the cornerstones of academic dentistry that form the foundation upon which the dental profession rises to provide care to the public. The oral health status of Americans has improved dramatically over the past twenty-five to thirty years. In his 2000 report on oral health, the Surgeon General acknowledges the success of the dental profession in improving the oral health status of Americans over the past twenty-five years, but he also juxtaposes this success to profound and consequential disparities in the oral health of Americans. In 2002, the American Dental Education Association brought together an ADEA President's Commission of national experts to explore the roles and responsibilities of academic dental institutions in improving the oral health status of all Americans. They have issued this report and made a variety of policy recommendations, including a Statement of Position, to the 2003 ADEA House of Delegates. The commission's work will help guide ADEA in such areas as: identifying barriers to oral health care, providing guiding principles for academic dental institutions, anticipating workforce needs, and improving access through a diverse workforce and the types of oral health providers, including full utilization of allied dental professionals and collaborations with colleagues from medicine.
A Research Agenda for Dental Public Health—Rational and Development
Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 1992
Basis for a Dental Public Health Research Agenda Agendas for health research inform the public, the profession, policy makers, and the research community of exciting opportunities for improving the nation's health by delineating research needs, directing attention to important areas, and encouraging collective efforts to solve research problems. Several formal agendas for oral health research exist. These include Broadening the Scope, the Long-range Plan for the Nineties, of the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) (1); its predecessor, Challenges for the Eighties (2); and A Research Agenda for Oral Health in the Elderfy (31, a collaborative effort among the National Institute on Aging (NIA), NIDR, and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Other national oral health research agendas have emerged over the past decade: through initiatives of the Surgeon General (4-6), in studies conducted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (7,8), and from state-of-the-science and consensus workshops (9-11). Also available are oral health research recommendations for international collaboration in oral health research (121, and the Research and Action Program for Improving the Oral Health in Adults and Older Americans
The ability of oral health professionals to significantly influence improving overall health
Journal of Dental Education, 2020
In 2000, David Satcher wrote, Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, and stated that "oral health means much more than healthy teeth," and he challenged all health providers to step up and be a part of the improvement of the nation's oral health status. Over the past few decades, the heightened awareness of these oral health inequities within the United States has resulted in public policy stakeholders and scholars, similarly calling for the improvement of the nation's oral health status. Satcher also suggested that saliva may provide clues to a patient's overall health and a possible predictor of systemic disease. There have been several articles that have demonstrated an increased risk of systemic diseases with circulating inflammatory mediators, a reduction in treatment cost for pregnant women who received treatment for their clinically diagnosed periodontal disease. Health profession education has responded to the call for transforming the health system by developing graduates who are capable for working in an environment designed to improve the overall health of patients. Therefore, this article examines why oral health professionals have a significant opportunity to contribute to the improvement overall health of patients and participate in healthcare transformation.
New Understanding of Dental Public Health: A Review
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International
Oral disorders are a most important public health issue in most of the developing countries, and their prevalence is on the rise. To enhance the population's oral wellbeing by providing preventive and therapeutic services is the main aim of dental public health (DPH). However, due to low requirement of capability and ability among DPH personnel, its accomplishment in India is being probed [1]. For many people, dental care has grown expensive, and a huge number of patients around the world are delaying or ignoring important dental procedures. in addition, the ageing of the worldwide populace, as well as the resulting growth in common and dental concern needs, raises worries about the long-term viability of healthcare organization. These changes underscore the critical requirement for a new dental care representation that is both sustainable and efficient [2]. In this regard, the favorable approach for transforming the scene of oral healthcare is the adoption of scientific advance...
Basic Oral Health Needs: A Professional Priority?
Journal of Dental Education, 2006
The inadequacy of access to oral health care is a complex problem facing society. Many in society who need care are unable to obtain it or do not seek it for a variety of reasons. Most commonly, these are the unfunded, who simply have inadequate resources; the "unaccepted," who may not have dental coverage or have types of coverage that are not accepted by private practitioners; the inaccessible, who may be homebound or live in sparsely populated or low-income geographic areas without dental providers; the unconvinced, who may have resources but do not believe in or recognize the need for treatment; and the unmotivated, who may realize that they need care but for them it is not a priority. While the oral health care professions cannot be expected to shoulder the entire burden to "fix" inadequate access to care, we believe that they have important responsibilities. True professions have a unique relationship with society that places them in positions of trust. With this trust comes the responsibility for public policy advocacy and to actively participate in identifying realistic ways to reduce the access problem. The leadership of organized dentistry, as well as educational institutions, and practitioners themselves must be committed to improving access and thereby the health of those currently underserved.
Academic Pediatrics, 2009
We examined progress in US children's oral health and dental public health infrastructure since the Healthy People 2010 Oral Health Objectives were issued. We summarize trends in the prevalence of dental caries and dental sealants on the basis of national and state-specific data. Trends in state oral health program activities, funding, and staffing were derived from annual surveys. The prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth of children aged 2-4 years increased from 18% in 1988-1994 to 24% in 1999-2004. Racial disparities persisted in that age group, with caries significantly more prevalent among non-Hispanic black and Mexican American children than among non-Hispanic white children. Caries prevalence in primary teeth of non-Hispanic white children aged 6-8 years remained unchanged, but increased among non-Hispanic black and Mexican American children. State-specific prevalence of caries among third-graders ranged from 40.6% to 72.2%. Caries in permanent teeth declined among children and adolescents, while the prevalence of dental sealants increased significantly. State oral health programs' funding and staffing remained modest, although the proportion of states with sealant programs increased 75% in 2000 to 85% in 2007 and the proportion with fluoride varnish programs increased from 13% to 53%. Progress toward improving the oral health of America during the past decade has been mixed. Greater attention to the oral health of young children is clearly needed, and child health professionals can be valuable partners in the effort. With continued high prevalence of a largely preventable disease, ongoing problems with access to basic oral health services, and increased national attention to health care reform, there is a clear need and opportunity for governments to make serious and sustained investments in dental public health.