A Call for Action: Policy Initiatives

• Oral health is essential to general health and well-being. Although safe and effective means for achieving good oral health exist, not all Americans have benefited from them. Many in our nation experience needless pain and suffering, complications that can devastate overall health, and financial and social costs that lower quality of life and burden society.
   
• The development of a National Oral Health Plan will provide a framework for coordinated efforts to eliminate oral health disparities and improve quality of life.
   
• More information is needed on the oral health of diverse segments of the population, including racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, the homeless, immigrants, rural populations, migrant workers, and the elderly.

What Can You Do?

• Be a part of creating a National Oral Health Plan with the goal of eliminating health disparities and improving quality of life. This goal can be achieved by forming collaborations among communities, policymakers, and health care providers. Collaborators can work together to increase awareness of the importance of oral health and actions that can be taken to prevent oral diseases.
   
• Efforts are needed to enhance the public’s understanding of oral health as a component of general health. Collaborative partnerships could combine the knowledge and talents of researchers, health care providers, media, consumer groups, private industry, and community leaders to better inform the public.
   
• Increase the awareness of policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels of the importance of oral health, and work to remove barriers to accessing oral health education, health promotion programs, and dental care services. 
   
• Non-dental health professionals should be better informed about oral health and disease and about their role in improving oral health. Informed health care professionals will ensure that the public benefits from interdisciplinary services and comprehensive care.
   
• A lack of access to care exists, especially among the poor, racial/ethnic minorities, and people lacking dental insurance. Public and private partnerships could seek solutions.
   
• The public health infrastructure should be strengthened to meet the health needs of all Americans and to integrate oral health into other public health programs. 
   
• Behavioral and clinical research, clinical trials, health services research, and community-based demonstration research are needed to improve our understanding of oral diseases and how to prevent and treat them. 
   
• Efforts are needed to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the oral health workforce and to strengthen the oral health education and research workforce.

For more information, contact:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Division of Oral Health, MS F-10
4770 Buford Highway, NE
Atlanta, GA 30341
1-888-CDC-2306
http://www.cdc.gov

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
National Institutes of Health
Building 45, Room 4AS-19
45 Center Drive MSC 6400
Bethesda, MD 20892-6400
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov

If you have questions or comments, e-mail:ccdinfo@cdc.gov

Related Links

• See other Fact Sheets from the Office of the Surgeon General
  
  
• Oral Health In America: A Report of the Surgeon General

From the Office of the Surgeon General
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
May 2000

Historical Document
Page last modified: October 4, 2004
Content source: Division of Oral Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion