Dental Public Health! A Mistaken Identity

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The dental public health field has been expanding in scope & complexity with more emphasis beingplaced on the total dental care delivery system and its impact on oral health status.A broadly accepted definition of "dental public health" has been given byDowner 1994: "The science and art of preventing oral disease, promotingoral health and improving quality of life through the organized effortsof society" (Downer et al,1994). A broader definition was made ten years later as follows: "The scienceand art of preventing oral disease, promoting oral healthand improving quality of life through the organized efforts and informedchoices of society, organizations, public and private, communities andindividuals" (Pine & Harris 2007).The purpose of an oral health care system is to influence the population’s way of life so that oral healthis promoted or maintained and oral disease prevented; and to promote adequate treatment to thosemembers of the population affected by oral disease so that disease is arrested at an early stage andloss of function is prevented. These functions apply whether the service is in a developing or developedcountry.