Elsevier

Dental Abstracts

Volume 62, Issue 4, July–August 2017, Pages 176-177
Dental Abstracts

Commentary
Defining oral health

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Background

The FDI World Dental Federation approved a new definition of oral health as part of their advocacy and strategic plan called Vision 2020. The definition and framework that accompanies it offer the dental profession a chance to evaluate what should be included in oral health and what impact a universal definition may have on clinical practice and oral health policy decisions. The need for this new definition, advantages related to its adoption, and challenges that come with it were discussed.

Need for the New Definition

Although oral health has been recognized as an important component of overall health for centuries, what exactly the term oral health refers to is not necessarily the same to all dental professionals and stakeholders. Without agreement on what oral health constitutes, it’s difficult to clearly explain to others what it means. Having a common definition can unite stakeholders; can influence the creation of parameters for care, health policy, research, education, and reimbursement; and can chart

Advantages of Adopting the New Definition

The new definition has been crafted to facilitate its adoption. Specifically the new definition has several advantages, as follows:

  • 1.

    It is not a revolutionary but an evolutionary result of existing definitions, thereby facilitating its acceptance.

  • 2.

    It moves dentistry from treatment of disease to the provision of care and support for patients’ oral health.

  • 3.

    It employs words and concepts that are understood across health care disciplines.

  • 4.

    It increases awareness of the many dimensions of oral health and

Remaining Challenges

Ways to assess and measure the implementation of this new definition are being undertaken in the United States. The definition of oral health has the potential to create a common understanding among those who meet the oral health needs of people and communities. It should also help in explaining how important oral health is to one’s entire health.

Clinical Significance

The FDI represents over 1 million dentists in over 130 countries. The creation of the definition of oral health they offer along

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Glick M, Williams DM, Kleinman DV, et al: A new definition for oral health developed by the FDI Word Dental Federation opens the door to a universal definition of oral health. J Am Dent Assoc 147:915-917, 2016

Reprints available from M Glick, School of Dental Medicine, Univ at Buffalo, The State Univ of New York, 355 Squire Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214-8006; e-mail: [email protected]

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