ORAL health is embedded in the Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage.
Oral health was included in 2019 after the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases recognized that oral diseases pose a major health burden.
Members countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) developed and endorsed strong strategies and calls for action.
It led to WHO’s commitment to promote oral health and quality, essential treatment for oral health conditions for all people in all countries without individual financial hardship.
Reducing oral health conditions calls for a reform of oral health systems to shift the focus from dental treatment to prevention and more minor treatment.
WHO has identified key strategies for improving oral health, with a focus on low-income and marginalized populations where access to oral health care is most limited.
These include strengthening both cost-effective and population-wide prevention and patient-centered health care.
This work is being implemented through a three-year roadmap (from 2019 to this year) that comprises a mix of work and practical support to countries.
A top priority is the development of a global oral health report which will provide information about the status of oral health globally. The report will serve as the evidence for the development of a global oral health action plan.
The United Nations health agency builds capacity and provides technical assistance to countries to reduce sugar consumption, control tobacco use and promote fluoride-containing toothpaste and other ways.
It provides assistance to strengthen oral health systems such that they are an integral part of primary health care and do not cause financial hardship.
WHO’s oral health information systems and integrated surveillance are integrated with other noncommunicable diseases. It demonstrates the scale and impact of the problem and to monitor progress achieved.
“The compartmentalization involved in viewing the mouth separately from the rest of the body must cease because oral health affects general health by causing considerable pain and suffering and by changing what people eat, their speech and their quality of life and well-being,” says Aubrey Sheiham, writing for WHO.
Because of the failure to incorporate oral health into general health promotion, millions suffer intractable toothache and poor quality of life and end up with few teeth, she says.
“Oral diseases are the most common of the chronic diseases and are important public health problems because of their prevalence, their impact on individuals and society, and the expense of their treatment.”
This should not be the case, Ms. Sheiham argues, because determinants of oral diseases are known.
These are the risk factors common to a number of chronic diseases: diet and dirt (hygiene), smoking, alcohol, risky behaviors causing injuries and stress.
In some countries, oral diseases are the fourth most expensive diseases to treat. Treating tooth decay, estimated at $3,513 per 1,000 children, would exceed the total health budget for children of most low-income countries.
Severe tooth decay detracts from children’s quality of life: they experience pain, discomfort, disfigurement, acute and chronic infections, and eating and sleep disruption as well as higher risk of hospitalization, high treatment costs and loss of school days with the consequently diminished ability to learn.
Tooth decay affects nutrition, growth and weight gain. Children of three years of age with tooth decay weigh about one kilogram less because toothache and infection alter eating and sleeping habits and diets./PN
