A World Health Organization Resolution Aims to Bridge the Medical-Dental Divide

More than 3.5 billion people across the globe have some sort of oral disease. As many as 2.3 billion dental caries cases in permanent teeth go untreated, while the disease ravages the primary teeth of 530 million children. Meanwhile, 796 million people have periodontal diseases.^1–3

These conditions exact an extraordinary price on the wellbeing of both individuals and society as a whole. Increasingly, we are learning how connected oral disease is to disorders that crop up in the rest of the body. Yet in most industrialized nations, oral disease continues to be viewed as separate from medical illness, with dental care viewed as separate from medical care. This has long put dental care at a disadvantage. But that may be changing.

A FRESH TAKE

In May, during its 74th World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization passed a resolution on oral health, linking it with noncommunicable diseases. After all, risk factors for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, pneumonia, obesity, and premature birth include high sugar intake, tobacco use, and alcohol abuse. All of these can also annihilate oral health.⁴

The resolution advocates for member states to address the shared risk factors of oral and other noncommunicable diseases and to enhance the capacities of oral health professionals. Its overall push is to veer away from the traditional curative approach to these issues and proceed toward a preventive approach. Under such a model, oral healthcare would be promoted within the family, school, and workplace. It would be included as part of the same comprehensive primary healthcare that addresses noncommunicable diseases.⁴

WIDESPREAD AGREEMENT

Assembly members were in clear agreement that oral health should be “firmly embedded within the noncommunicable disease agenda and that oral health-care interventions should be included in universal health coverage programmes.”⁴ They asked that the organization develop a draft global strategy to this effect in 2022, and to formulate an action plan by 2023. They are not alone.

Similar changes are also being called for by the Lancet Commission on Oral Health and the FDI World Dental Federation, which represents more than 1 million dentists from 133 countries.⁵ Advocates of this move hope to broaden the scope of oral healthcare and improve access to professional dental care and oral hygiene services.

IMPORTANCE OF ORAL HEALTH MAINTENANCE AMPLIFIED

Because of the cascade of evidence confirming the relationship between oral health and systemic health, consistent oral health maintenance has never been more important. By keeping pathogens and the kinds of inflammation they can cause in check through regular oral hygiene visits, brushing, flossing, and the use of interdental aids and mouthrinses, patients may not only be saving their teeth—they may be saving their lives.

REFERENCES

1. Seventy-Fourth World Health Assembly. Oral Health. Available at: https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA74/A74_R5-en.pdf.
2. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32279-7/fulltext.
3. Global Burden of Disease 2017 Oral Disorders Collaborators, Bernabe E, Marcenes W, et al. Global, regional, and national levels and trends in burden of oral conditions from 1990 to 2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study. J Dent Res. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7088322/. 
4. World Health Organization. World Health Assembly Resolution Paves the Way for Better Oral Health Care. Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/27-05-2021-world-health-assembly-resolution-paves-the-way-for-better-oral-health-care.
5. Drew L. The advocacy frontier. Nature. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02926-4.