Oral diseases are a universal public health problem with serious health and economic burdens (World Health Organization, 2022). As it is well known, untreated tooth decay destroys tooth crowns and is often accompanied by severe pain, absence from school, eating difficulties, the risk for delayed physical growth and development, increased days with restricted activity, and diminished oral health-related quality of life (World Health Organization, 2019, Abuhaloob and Petersen, 2021). Likewise, in African and Middle Eastern countries, different studies have pointed to the high burden of oral diseases that resulted from the rapid increase in oral health-related diseases and associated risk factors (Morgano et al., 2010, Elamin et al., 2021, Khan, 2014, Alraqiq et al., 2021).
Fortunately, oral diseases - mainly dental caries - are preventable (World Health Organization, 2019). However, low and middle-income- and high-income countries are still struggling to establish effective oral health prevention programs locally and regionally. The barriers associated with establishing effective oral health prevention programs include a lack of decision-makers awareness and support of dental public health development and oral health care prevention initiatives. This stems from the unavailability of a standardized national dental public health strategy to inform how to assess dental health status and build evidence for the most effective oral and dental care preventive intervention.
Dental public health science is the art of diagnosing and controlling oral disease and promoting oral health through community prevention efforts (Galagan, 1962). This definition highlights the importance of diagnosing dental diseases and identifying relevant risk factors before planning community prevention programs. Unfortunately, the education and practice of dental public health science are extremely rare in the Africa/Middle East Region (AMER).
Learning Objectives:
- To provide an overview of oral health diseases and associated risk factors in Africa/Middle East countries
- To present and discuss current strategies to tackle growing dental caries, periodontitis and associated oral health inequalities in these countries
- To appraise dental public health education role in academia and practice in these countries
- To recommend approaches for dental public education in AMER to address the current challenges
- To identify approaches for reforming national and regional dental care prevention in AMER
Sponsored by:
Oral Health Research Group
Financial Interest Disclosure: None
Open to all IADR members