Editor’s note: Then-Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher late last year convened the beginning of a Partnership Network Group and charged it and the country to develop a Call to Action Plan for national oral health. In this issue’s "Viewpoint," Dr. Flavia Lamberghini, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, offers her thoughts on this effort.

The development of a national oral health Call to Action Plan is an important opportunity for health advocates to develop a strategy for promoting oral health and, thereby, general health and well-being. It also will allow a national focus on preventing oral disease, providing appropriate care and access to needed services, and protecting oral health.

The Call to Action Plan reflects the major findings of the Surgeon General's report Oral Health in America, released in May 2000, which reviewed the burden of oral diseases and conditions upon individuals, communities, and the nation. The report addressed the meaning of oral health and the interdependence of oral with general health. It presented the status of oral health in America generally and among specific populations, examined how oral health is promoted and maintained, and addressed how oral diseases are prevented. In addition, the report explored the needs and opportunities to enhance oral health in the future.

As part of its focus on the future, the report in its Framework for Action called for the development of a national oral health plan. As the Surgeon General stated, "All Americans can benefit from the development of a national oral health plan to improve quality of life and eliminate health disparities by facilitating collaboration among individuals, health care providers, communities, and policymakers at all levels of society and by taking advantage of existing initiatives."

The development of a national oral health plan will provide a structure for coordinated efforts that can fulfill the report’s two major goals: eliminating oral health disparities and improving quality of life. To reach these goals, the report proposes improving general health and well-being by promoting oral health through critical partnerships at all levels.  

Such partnerships can be achieved by forming collaborations among communities, policymakers, and health care providers. Participants can work together to increase awareness of oral health’s importance, as well as of actions to prevent oral diseases. Participants also must tackle a lack of access to care, especially for the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, and people lacking dental insurance. Additional efforts are needed to increase racial and ethnic diversity, and strengthen the oral health and oral health education and research workforces.

Participants also must enhance the public’s understanding of oral health as a component of general health. For example, 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. They also can help non-dental health professionals become better informed about oral health and disease and about their role in improving oral health, which will ensure that the public benefits from interdisciplinary services and comprehensive care.

Another goal is increasing the awareness of policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels about the importance of oral health and working to remove barriers to accessing oral health education, health promotion programs, and dental care services. In this way, the public health infrastructure can be strengthened to meet the health needs of all Americans and to integrate oral health into other public health programs. 

The Call to Action Plan includes "Guiding Principles" for providing oral health services and promoting health at the individual and community level:

•Ensure that the public benefits from the existing and emerging science base. Approaches must reflect the science while responding to the needs of individuals and communities.

•Stimulate and support critical partnerships among all health professions and beyond. Successful partnership interventions will be characterized by a focus on oral health as a subset of overall health and the need for social accountability.

•Seek social equity. Efforts to reduce disparities in oral health and to ensure universal access to appropriate dental care must build on fundamental societal values of equity and respect for cultural diversity.

•Emphasize prevention and health promotion. Remedies must prioritize prevention and health promotion, commit to quality, and assure sustainability.

According to the report, any actions taken must address critical success factors and barriers. Proposed key action elements include:

•Change perceptions regarding oral health and disease so that oral health becomes an accepted component of general health.

•Accelerate building America’s scientific and evidence base and apply science effectively to improve oral health.

•Build an effective health infrastructure at the local, state, and national levels that meets the oral health needs of all Americans and integrates oral health effectively into overall health.

•Strengthen and expand oral health research and education capacity and ensure the development of a responsive, competent, and diverse workforce.

•Remove known barriers between people and oral health services.

•Use public-private partnerships and build on common goals to improve the oral health of those who still suffer disproportionately from oral diseases.

To help focus these actions, the report proposes several action categories. 

•Surveillance and epidemiology. The Healthy People 2010 objectives provide prime content areas and specific surveys and approaches applicable to data acquisition and analysis.*

•Policy development and implementation.

•Communication, health promotion, and health literacy.

•Health professions education.

•Programs.

•Delivery and service systems.

•Research.

•Analysis and dissemination of state and other activities related to access to care.

The Surgeon General's Call to Action Plan asks us to work together to broaden public understanding of the importance of oral health and to ensure that existing and future preventive and treatment measures for oral diseases are made available to all Americans.

As a result, it offers a powerful opportunity to share--across disciplines and professions--community-based strategies such as community development, organizational change, public policy development, environmental change, and individual behavior change to improve health. It also serves as an opportunity for oral health advocates to stimulate dialogue; share best practices; and integrate information, models, theories, techniques, and tools from diverse disciplines while improving collaboration and partnership with the commitment to improving oral health.

*Healthy People 2010 (HP 2010) is an important existing initiative that would serve well as a companion to a national oral health Call to Action Plan. Managed by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it outlines critical steps to assure that good health is enjoyed by all. HP 2010 also provides measurable oral health objectives that are part of overall national health objectives. The Call to Action Plan can provide a template for guidance and agreement within the health community and specifically among advocates for oral health, and HP 2010 can provide the means to assess progress and improvement.

•Healthy People 2010.<http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/>.

•National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Draft outline, national oral health Call to Action Plan, <http://www.nidr.nih.gov/sgr/callToAction/draft.asp>.

•Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. <http://www.nidr.nih.gov/sgr/sgrohweb/welcome.htm>.

Article originally appeared in the Chicago College of Dentistry "Vision" Magazine.

ARTICLES MAIN PAGE