Growing scientific evidence of the intrinsic relationship between oral and systemic health has given pause to global health organizations, academia, health professions, regulators, professional organizations, and society at large. Patients and their organizations, as well as insurers and public and private financing systems, have considered this approach to oral health integrated into a health whole.
Involve oral health professionals in primary health care, in a universal coverage approach, with the natural collaboration of family doctors, nutritionists given the wide sharing and relationship between nutrition and oral health and psychologists, now that everyone is aware of the impact and relationship of oral health on mental health and vice versa; also at the level of joint pathology of the Temporomandibular Joint, TMJ, bruxism and occlusal problems and their relationship with physiotherapy, sleep medicine and neurology. And there would be other examples, involving nurses, pediatricians, speech therapists, etc.
All practical examples of this relationship between oral and systemic health involving various areas of health. But, in this “look around” we cannot forget to look inwards, at the oral health team, which includes dentists, oral hygienists and dental technicians. It should be noted that the “Global Report on the State of Oral Health: Towards Universal Health Coverage for Oral Health by 2030” presents a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities in the field of oral health globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that oral diseases are among the most common non-communicable diseases, affecting approximately 3.5 billion people worldwide. Of these diseases, the most prevalent are, of course, tooth decay and periodontal disease, which are largely preventable through educational, preventive, and clinical interventions, along with approaches to combat risks common to all chronic diseases.
More specifically, tooth decay, the most prevalent disease globally, affects more than 2 billion people. On the other hand, advanced periodontal disease, with a global prevalence of around 19%, affects more than 1 billion people worldwide. And edentulism and severe tooth loss has an average global prevalence of almost 7%, with more than 350 million cases identified worldwide. The report points to the need to include oral health services in the publicly funded services of national health coverage, accessible free of charge or at a cost that people can afford. In addition, it describes the main determinants and risk factors of oral diseases, including sugar consumption, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption.
It is noteworthy in this approach that chronic diseases and some pathology of the oral cavity share a set of risk factors that can be conditioned or altered. Dentists, MD, have the professional scope of studying, preventing, diagnosing, and treating anomalies and diseases of the teeth, mouth, jaws, and adjacent structures. Oral hygienists (OH) play an essential role in preventive, prophylactic, educational, and oral health literacy. On the other hand, in the rehabilitation of edentulism and tooth loss, the device developed by Dental Prosthesis Technicians, TPD, is absolutely fundamental.
As such, deepening collaboration and dialogue between dentistry and these oral health professions is key. It is therefore natural to establish permanent platforms for contact between these different professional profiles, for the benefit of patients and users. True alliances for oral health. In these professions, the predominant model is self-employment, mostly in the private sector. Dentists, but also with less autonomy, oral hygienists and dental technicians are thus independent workers, liberal professionals “holders of qualifications of an intellectual nature, with very specific characteristics of professional practice, such as responsibility, autonomy and independence, oriented towards the best interests of consumers and the community in general.
It is essential to look at the oral health professional case study for interprofessional collaboration with other areas of health. Undoubtedly. But we cannot leave behind the dialogue and interaction between the oral health professionals themselves who work together every day to prevent, treat and rehabilitate diseases of the oral cavity.
May 31st | 16h30-18h00 | Coordinator: Orlando Monteiro