Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges, a report from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
A culmination of two years of research and writing by more than 400 contributors, the report is a follow up to the Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health in America; exploring the nation’s oral health over the last 20 years. Here are some highlights from the report:
- Good oral health is important for the overall health and well-being of individuals of all ages, their families, communities and the nation.
- Substantial advances have been made in the understanding and treatment of oral diseases and conditions, yet many people still have chronic oral health problems and lack access to care.
- Healthy behaviors can improve and maintain individuals’ oral health; these behaviors are shaped by social and economic conditions.
- Oral and medical conditions often share common risk factors, and just as medical conditions and their treatments can influence oral health, so can oral conditions and their treatments affect other health issues.
- Oral health services are evolving rapidly towards interprofessional models of delivery that integrate services across the health professions and expand access to care through new practice settings and new professional roles.
- The COVID-19 public health crisis has challenged the nation’s health care system, including oral health care providers as never before, and with those challenges came new ways of ensuring safety during provision of dental care, of treating disease and recognizing that oral health cannot be separated from overall health.
Read the full report from the NIDCR.
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