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Chapter 7
Community and Other Approaches to Promote Oral Health and Prevent Oral Disease
Chapter 8
Personal and Provider Approaches to Oral Health
Chapter 9
Provision of Oral Health Care |
Safe and effective disease prevention measures for the common dental diseases exist and allow individuals, health care providers, and the community each to play a role, one that is enhanced by active partnerships among these groups. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to these measures. For example, some 40 percent of the U.S. population resides in communities that do not have optimal fluoride levels in their water supply.
Chapter 7 reviews the evidence for current prevention measures. Community water fluoridation remains an ideal public health measure, which benefits individuals of all ages and all socioeconomic strata. Other methods to deliver fluoride are reviewed, as is the use of dental sealants in caries prevention. The prevention of periodontal diseases and conditions such as oral and pharyngeal cancers and craniofacial injuries is at an early stage. Surveys of the knowledge and practices of the public and care providers reveal opportunities for enhanced education.
Attaining and maintaining oral health require a commitment to self-care and professional care. Chapter 8 highlights both individual responsibilities and emerging roles for health care providers. With greater understanding of the pathophysiology of oral diseases, providers can incorporate new preventive, diagnostic, and treatment strategies. These include developing risk assessment approaches for individual patients and adopting new strategies for the control of infections. Care providers are well positioned to instruct patients on tobacco cessation, appropriate dietary practices during pregnancy, and other healthful behaviors.
The professional provision of oral health care in America involves contributions from the dental, medical, and public health components. These are reviewed in Chapter 9, which focuses primarily on the dental component. A number of factors limit the capacity to improve the nation’s oral health. Public assistance programs as currently designed are not meeting the oral health needs of eligible populations. A troubling lack of diversity exists in the oral health workforce, along with continued shortfalls in the number of men and women attracted to positions in oral health education and research. Correcting these limitations would contribute to increased access to care for underserved populations, enhanced preparation of future practitioners, and an expanded ability to pursue the many research questions generated in this report.
Next: Chapter 7 |