The global oral health workforce

Abstract

Medicine and dentistry have always been, and continue to be, worlds apart. Unfortunately, this separation has exacerbated the poor oral health of many people, especially among vulnerable sections of the population, which, in turn, has led to oral health inequities across the globe.1Peres MA Macpherson LMD Weyant RJ et al.Oral diseases: a global public health challenge.Lancet. 2019; 394: 249-260Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (625) Google Scholar Notably, oral diseases have increasingly been associated with some of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases, namely cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancers; they share common risks, including social determinants (eg, low income and low level of education) and associated risk behaviours (eg, frequent smoking and high amounts of sugar consumption).2Seitz MW Listl S Bartols A et al.Current knowledge on correlations between highly prevalent dental conditions and chronic diseases: an umbrella review.Prev Chronic Dis. 2019; 16: e132Crossref PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar This nascent awareness that poor oral health is a major contributor to general health conditions, and vice versa, led WHO to enjoin its member states to address the implications stemming from the view that oral health should be considered an integral part of general health, and find ways to action this within their respective health-care systems.3WHOOral health.https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB148/B148_R1-en.pdfDate: Jan 21, 2021Date accessed: October 21, 2021Google Scholar The Lancet Commission on Oral Health4University College LondonThe Lancet Commission on Oral Health.https://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology-health-care/research/epidemiology-and-public-health/research/dental-public-health/lancet-commission-oral-healthDate accessed: October 21, 2021Google Scholar supports this initiative by delineating a series of important recommendations: (1) including diverse voices and engaging communities, (2) placing equity and social justice at the core, (3) tackling major risk factors such as sugar intake, (4) embracing major system reforms, (5) creating better data for decision making, and (6) closing financing gaps, as detailed by Habib Benzian and colleagues.5Benzian H Guarnizo-Herreño CC Kearns C Muriithi MW Watt RG The WHO global strategy for oral health: an opportunity for bold action.Lancet. 2021; 398: 192-194Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar Notwithstanding the expedience of these six key recommendations, it is also important to underscore that their implementation is predicated on there being a sufficient amount of essential, evidence-based expertise sharing and skill sharing between medical doctors and dentists. To that end, as a preliminary step, there is an urgent need for empirical research that shows both the feasibility and effectiveness of such bidirectional sharing. Thereafter, health-care planning, politics, and legislation should be aligned with new, partly overlapping medical and dental curricula worldwide. Interprofessional collaboration is necessary in this process. Consequently, medicine and dentistry should seek to evolve beyond their long-standing modi operandi of being worlds apart and instead move towards an urgently needed united approach. Only then will medical doctors and dentists be able to work sustainably together for the express aim of improving general and oral health equity around the globe. Therefore, in addition to the six key recommendations put forward by the Lancet Commission on Oral Health, we propose the following seventh key recommendation: promoting interprofessional collaboration between medical doctors and dentists in research, education, prevention, and care provision. We thank Richard G Watt (WHO Collaborating Centre in Oral Health Inequalities and Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK) and Justin Durham (School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK) for their critical and constructive feedback on our Correspondence. FL received research grants from Airway Management, Health Holland, SomnoMed, Sunstar Suisse, and Vivisol-Resmed; and is an unsalaried member of the Academic Advisory Board of Sunstar Suisse for GrindCare. GA received research grants from SomnoMed, Sunstar Suisse, Vivisol-Resmed, and Health Holland. The global oral health workforceHabib Benzian and colleagues1 aptly put forth the six key recommendations for the new WHO global strategy for oral health. We take this opportunity to address some key issues that can affect the action plan. Full-Text PDF The WHO global strategy for oral health: an opportunity for bold actionOral health is a neglected issue on the global health agenda,1 so it was an important advance when a resolution on oral health was adopted at WHO's 2021 World Health Assembly.2,3 The resolution calls for the development of a global oral health strategy by 2022 and action plan by 2023, including a monitoring framework aligned with non-communicable disease (NCD) and universal health coverage (UHC) agendas.3 Full-Text PDF The global oral health workforce – Authors' replyIn response to our Comment,1 Gargi Sarode and Sachin Sarode point out the crucial role of human resources for oral health as well as the predominance of the private practitioner model to deliver oral health care. Frank Lobbezoo and Ghizlane Aarab suggest strengthening dental–medical integration as an additional strategy to address oral diseases. These are notable aspects to consider in the context of a future WHO global oral health strategy and country-level reforms of health-care systems towards universal oral health coverage. Full-Text PDF