The Big Picture
Surgeon General's Report on oral health in 2000 highlighted that:
- Dental care is the most common unmet health need.
- Oral disease can adversely affect systemic health.
- Much oral disease is preventable or at least manageable.
- Profound disparities in oral health and access to care exist for all ages.
- Interdisciplinary care is necessary to achieve optimal oral and general health.
Section 1 of the Oral Health in America Report published in 2021 highlights the power in integrating oral and systemic health. The section notes promising new directions for health care homes that are integrating medicine and dentistry, and evolution of health records and diagnostic codes that support a new level of integration.
To help patients get the care they need, health professionals from all disciplines will need to work together. Many disciplines including nursing, midwifery, physician assistants, and community health workers have begun developing distinctive oral health initiatives.
References
National Institutes of Health. Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges. US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research; 2021.
Rasmussen et al. Education Solutions to the Medical-Dental Divide. AMA J Ethics. 2022;24(1):E27-32. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2022.27.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 2000.