Oral Healthcare Should Be Recognized as an Integral Component of Essential Healthcare

The article “Pandemic considerations on essential oral healthcare” published in the Journal of Dental Research provides a layered model of essential oral healthcare, integrating urgent and basic oral healthcare, as well as advanced and specialist oral healthcare.

Essential oral healthcare covers the most prevalent oral health problems but does not include the full spectrum of possible interventions that oral health professionals can provide. A layered approach to the definition of essential oral healthcare allows for categorization and prioritization with available resources and needs in mind, according to the American Association of Dental Research.

This model also includes a definition of basic oral healthcare and calls for oral healthcare to be recognized as an integral component of a healthcare system’s essential services. Read the full article here.