Dental Public Health

Dental Public Health

Dental Public Health can be defined as the “science and practice of preventing oral diseases, promoting oral health and improving the quality of life through the organised efforts of society”.  This was described by Dower et al. (1994) and also used by Acheson (1998) in his report to the ‘Inequalities in health’ conference.

The science of Dental Public Health is concerned with understanding a population’s health problems, establishing the causes and effects of those problems and planning effective interventions.  Dental Public Health Practice is concerned with promoting population health and therefore focuses action at a community level.

The determinants of health

All sorts of different factors determine health, or the lack thereof, from individual factors such as age and sex, through wider social and living circumstances, to socioeconomic, cultural and environmental factors.

We often consider our health to be the result of individual factors such as age, sex, and lifestyle. However, the wider Determinants of Health have a significant impact on our capacity to make the healthy choices and adopt habits that improve our health.

How we experience these wider factors is the key determinant of health outcomes. When these wider determinants are positive (e.g. good housing and employment, positive family and social role models, supportive policies and legislation) people can more easily adopt healthy behaviours and experience better health outcomes. When wider Determinants of Health have a more negative impact (e.g. lack of social support, poverty, lack of access to services) the opposite occurs and it is more difficult for an individual to make positive choices.

Source: Dahlgren G and Whitehead M (1991)

It is the role of professionals working in Dental Public Health to have an understanding of the wider factors that influence oral health and to work in partnership with organisations to improve oral health, such as Health and Social Care Partnerships, Councils, Education Departments, the Voluntary sector and Scottish Government.