What do the public and profession know about dental caries prevention in Korea?
The availability of known preventive dental measures has no value, unless they are used appropriately by the public and by dental health care providers. Nevertheless, there is a wide gap between what is known about preventive procedures and dental public health measures in the preventive and public health dental world and what is known and used by the public and dental health care providers in Korea. The gap should be minimised to enable dental caries to be conquered. Firstly, an emphasis on the appropriate use of preventive procedures is needed in colleges of dentistry, dental hygienist training technical colleges and continuing educational courses. Simultaneously, there should be reform of the state run qualifying examinations for dentists and for dental hygienists in order to upgrade preventive and public health dentistry. Meanwhile, to promote personal dental health, introduce community preventive dental measures and maintain their use through self-help personal efforts and organised combined efforts, all dental health care providers have to educate the public. In addition, dental health care providers and the public should be regularly questioned on their knowledge, opinions and practices about community water fluoridation programmes, school-based fluoride mouthrinsing programmes and preventive procedures at an interval of several years, as a test to measure the achievements of dental educational and dental health education aims.
Department of Preventive and Public Health Dentistry College of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea.
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Johng-bai
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003149:Community Dentistry; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000193:education; D003815:Dentists; D004497:Education, Dental; D004498:Education, Dental, Continuing; D005457:Fluoridation; D005459:Fluorides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008005:Licensure, Dental; D009067:Mouthwashes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011313:Preventive Dentistry; D011636:Public Health Dentistry
D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D009067:Mouthwashes; D005459:Fluorides