Dental public health

Dental public health (DPH) is a non-clinical specialty of dentistry that deals with the prevention and promotion of oral health. Dental public health is involved in the assessment of key dental health needs and coming up with effective solutions to improve the dental health of a population rather than individuals.

Prevention is becoming increasingly important in dentistry. Dental related diseases are largely preventable and there is a growing burden on health care systems for cure. Dental public health looks beyond the role of a dental practitioner in treating dental disease, and seeks to reduce demand on health care systems by redirection of resources to priority areas.

Countries around the world all face similar issues in relation to dental disease. Implementation of policies and principles vary due to available of resources. Like with public health, an understanding of the many factors that influence health will assist implementation of effective strategies.

There seems to be a lot more that can be done to help individuals prevent tooth decay based on what is already known.

Even with fluoridation and oral hygiene, tooth decay is still the most common food – related disease affecting all families, having the economic impact of heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

However decay is easy to prevent by reducing acid demineralisation from food left on teeth, neutralising acid after eating, or at least twice a day chewing a special form of toothpaste before or after brushing.

All cavities occur from acid demineralisation of teeth where chewing leaves food trapped on teeth. Though more than 95% of trapped food is left packed between teeth after every meal or snack, over 80% of cavities develop inside pits and fissures in grooves on chewing surfaces where the brush and fluoride toothpaste cannot reach.

Fissure sealants painted over chewing surfaces blocks food being trapped inside pits and fissures and changed to acid helping prevent acid demineralisation and tooth decay about as much as fluoridation where over 80% of cavities occur. Sealants forced inside pits and fissures under chewing pressure penetrate deeper inside chewing surfaces where food is forced under chewing pressure where brushing cannot reach as seen with a glass model of a fissure.

Chewing fibre like celery after eating helps force saliva inside pits and fissures and between teeth to dilute carbohydrate like sugar in trapped food, neutralise acid and remineralise tooth better than chewing gum that cannot absorb or expel saliva.

Chewing toothpaste before or after brushing would help fluoride remineralise susceptible tooth surfaces between teeth and inside pits and fissures where brushing cannot reach.

Public health dentistry, dental specialty concerned primarily with prevention of dental decay and of periodontal disease (disease of the tissues surrounding the teeth). Public health dentistry is practiced generally through governmentally sponsored programs, which are for the most part directed toward public-school children in the belief that their education in oral hygiene is the best way to reach the general public. The pattern for such programs in the past was a dentist’s annual visit to a school to lecture and to demonstrate proper tooth-brushing techniques. The 1970s saw the emergence of a more elaborate program that included a week of one-hour sessions of instruction, demonstration, and questions and answers, conducted by a dentist and a dental assistant and aided by a teacher who had previously been given several hours of instruction. Use was also made of televised dental health education programs, which parents were encouraged to observe.

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Wikipedia