Infrastructure Development Tools
Activity 2: Describe the Oral Disease Burden in the State
State oral health programs need to share information about their oral
disease burden with policy makers, the public health community, and
other stakeholders and interested parties.
An oral disease burden document describes the status of oral diseases (e.g.,
dental caries, periodontal disease, total tooth loss) in a state, including any
disparities in oral disease status among population groups. It also may discuss
the ability of a state’s program to meet these needs by including a description
of existing state oral health assets, such as professional dental and dental
hygiene education programs and intervention programs that focus on preventing
oral diseases.
This document should include current data, preferably no older than 5 years,
and should include indicators consistent with the National Oral Health
Surveillance System (NOHSS) , Water Fluoridation Reporting System (WFRS), and
Synopses of State and Territorial Dental Public Health Programs (State
Synopses).
Although a burden document is intended to give a complete representation of a
state’s burden, it may be too long to present to decision makers. A state also
may develop much shorter pieces (one to two pages) from the burden document to
brief decision makers about oral health issues.
Additional Resources
The Burden of Oral Disease: A Tool for Creating State Documents
This tool
includes a document outline, sample text, references, and national data that
can be used to describe the prevalence of oral diseases, unmet dental needs,
and disparities in the oral health of state residents.
Page last reviewed: October 29, 2008
Page last modified: August 27, 2007
Content source:
Division of Oral Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
