Chapter 1: Dental Public Health

Dental Public Health and Research

Chapter 1: Dental Public Health

** \n Introduction**

• Public health is concerned with the health of all
• Public health focuses on the health of the entire population, not just on health services of individuals

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The Goal of Public Health 

• The goal of public health is to protect and promote the public’s health across three essential domains:

• Health protection

• Disease prevention

• Health promotion

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Preventive Dental Concepts

• Primary prevention

• Prevent disease from occuring

• Example: Community water fluoridation

• Secondary prevention

• Terminating the disease process

• Example: Fluoride varnish on white spots (demineralized tooth surfaces)

• Tertiary prevention

• Replace lost tissues

• Example: Dentures or implants to replace lost teeth

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Public Health Defined

• Public health has been defined by the World Health Organization as the effort to promote physical and mental health and prevent disease, injury, and disability

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Historical Perspective

• Dental public health may have been around for longer than thought, based on the presumption that humans have always wanted to prevent disease

• Early public health activities such as:

• Quarantines

• Mass burials

• Ship inspections

• The first significant recording of public health measures in the U.S. emerged in South Carolina in 1671 as a water protection measure

• Dr. Edward Jenner’s discovery leads to immunizations

• The introduction of health services for merchant seaman in 1798

• Communicable disease, travel, and public health

• This initiative was the precursor for the U.S Public Health Services

• Polluted public water well in 1854 led to Cholera outbreak in London

• Dr. John Snow, the founder of modern day epidemiology

• Public health laboratory opened in 1887 on Staten Island, NY

• Forerunner to the National Institutes of Health

• Public Health Research initiated

• Dr. Sara Baker initiates a true public health promotional and education program

• Hell’s Kitchen in NYC

• Taught mothers how to dress, feed, and bathe their babies

• Physician Education and Physician Influence in the U.S

• Increase in average lifespan in the 1990s and public health

• Most recent public health efforts

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Dental Public Health

• Dental public health is an approach to healthcare that is concerned with the health of the community as a whole

• Many times dental public health is termed community dental health

• Both terms are correct and share similar meanings

• Dental public health focuses on oral healthcare and the education of a population, with an emphasis on the utilization of dental hygiene sciences

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Factors Affecting Dental Public Health

• Access to care
• Infrastructure
• Workforce
• Dental hygiene
• Oral health disparities
• The aging population
• Malpractice
• Dental insurance
• Cultural influences

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