Experts Call for Radical Reform in Dental Care

New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry’s World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Quality Improvement and Evidence-Based Dentistry, together with The Lancet, hosted an event at the United Nations to bring oral health into the conversation about universal health coverage. The goal was to accelerate global advocacy for oral health, and promote knowledge sharing and translation of evidence into practice.

The discussion followed a two-part series published in The Lancet that points to the “urgent need for radical reform” of oral health care to prioritize prevention and integrate dentistry into primary care. The articles examine why oral health has been neglected, and advocate for immediate action.

The Lancet series co-author Habib Benzian, DDS, MScDPH, PhD, an NYU professor and associate director of global health and policy for the NYU WHO Collaborating Center for Quality Improvement and Evidence-Based Dentistry, explains, “A reformed oral health care system needs to incentivize prevention, embrace a wider team of health professionals (including primary care and midlevel providers), and respond to the diverse needs of local populations.”

From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. January 2020;18(1):13.