title: A functional natural dentition for all--and for life? The oral healthcare system needs revision.
abstract: The cost of dental care adds to the costs of the already overburdened health sector. Do we - as patients and as society -receive oral health care that is both aligned with the actual disease experience and also, critically based on up-to-date scientific knowledge about the major oral diseases? In many places, the practice of dentistry reflects a response to disease patterns that once existed and is based on diagnostic and therapeutic approaches that are no longer valid. Instead, a new cadre of dental professionals is needed, one that is capable of meeting the actual health needs of our populations. This cadre should ensure that patients maintain a functioning dentition from cradle to grave based on cost-effective disease control principles. There is an urgent need to: (i) reconsider the roles of the different oral health cadres involved in the provision of oral health care; (ii) integrate oral health into general healthcare services; and (iii) restructure the training of oral health personnel. We advocate a radical reform of the oral healthcare system involving the training of two new types of professionals integrated with the general healthcare system: The oral healthcare provider - a highly skilled professional specialised in the diagnosis and control of oral diseases and with a profound understanding of oral health as part of general health - and the oral clinical specialist - whose role is the provision of advanced oral rehabilitation, able also to treat people with complex chronic diseases and multiple medications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark. of@ana.au.dk
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fejerskov
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Escobar
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jøssing
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baelum
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003718:Denmark; D003729:Dental Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D003813:Dentistry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy
keywords: dental care; dental caries; dental education; dental health services; oral health; oral rehabilitation; periodontitis