The Place of Behavioral Science in Dental Public Health

Abstract

Behavioral research was noted as important to the dental public health practitioner in helping him fulfill his functions of “research, education, prevention, diagnosis, prescription, treatment, and evaluation in community dental health care.” Four dental public health questions were presented: (1) can greater use be made of auxiliary personnel in order to increase dental care for the population; (2) how can the supply of dentists be increased to provide care for a population that is growing in size and raising its socioeconomic levels; (3) why is the fluoridation of water supplies rejected in so many communities; and (4) how can the number of people who go to dentists be increased. Behavioral research findings relevant to answering certain research questions which grow out of these administrative questions were supplied. It was noted that some answers to these questions are now available. However, the youth of social research as a part of dental public health precludes full answers for the practitioner at this time. It seems important to comment on the fact that the summary of social research in dentistry prepared by the present author in 1959 (and unfortunately not published until 1961) now seems almost out of date. Most of the research referred to in this paper was published since 1959, or is still in progress. It seems obvious that the dental public health practitioner has become aware of the value of behavioral research, and will continue to make maximum use of its contributions. Such research in dental public health seems likely to move from its present diagnostic phase to an experimental phase in the near future. Behavioral science activity is expected to be of even more value to the practitioner in its new phase.