The Global Oral Health Link to Systemic Health Is at a Tipping Point

Increasingly, oral diseases are being implicated in the development of systemic diseases across the world. Such illnesses include diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. This is alarming considering that almost half of the world’s population — 3.3 billion people — is reportedly affected by oral disease.¹

According to the World Economic Forum Global Health Equity Network’s Oral Health Affinity Group, the impacts of oral disease are reflected in lost school and workdays, lower academic achievement, and diminished job prospects for adults. Low-income, at-risk populations suffer most.¹

The global cost for treatment and productivity losses is estimated at more than $710 billion. That’s a lot when studies show that preventive oral health strategies are immensely beneficial and effective at keeping costs down. Yet, oral health across the globe has gone largely ignored by both public and private sectors.

EVOLVING CONCENSUS

Growing recognition, however, of the significant link between oral and systemic health is fueling action from numerous stakeholders. A shift occurred in 2022, when the World Health Organization adopted a global strategy on oral health. Its status report highlighted the cost of oral health neglect, noting, that disadvantaged and underrepresented populations are most heavily impacted.¹

In 2023, the FDI World Dental Federation, which represents more than 1 million dentists and 101 national dental associations in 134 countries, presented its white paper, “Access to Oral Health through Primary Health Care.” Developed under the guidance of its Vision 2030, it’s a blueprint for increasing access to care, anticipating oral health challenges that will crop up over the next decade, and proposing strategies to meet those challenges. Chief among its recommendations is the integration of oral health into primary care and its inclusion into universal health coverage policies.^1,2

INERTIA REMAINS

But despite increased awareness, governmental investment in dental facilities, the dental workforce, and ensuring the affordability needed care continues to be lacking. This situation isn’t helped by employers’ lack of investment in employee oral health.

According to the authors of the World Economic Forum report, these investment choices are largely the result of the historic siloing of oral health and medicine. Regarding the two as separate entities has exacerbated the incidence of oral disease.¹

LEADING THE WAY

The World Economic Forum Global Health Equity Network’s Oral Health Affinity Group, comprising leaders across sectors and industries, aims to raise overall awareness of the costs of poor oral health and explore actions government and private companies can take to improve oral health on a global scale.¹

Some leaders are already blazing the trail toward better oral health and showing how such improvements can benefit communities and boost economies. Thailand, Japan, and Brazil are successfully adopting universal public health insurance coverage that includes oral health.

In the United States, some states have been able to reduce the rate of diabetes and heart disease through Medicaid expansion that provides dental coverage for adults. This, in turn, has reduced costs to the Medicaid program and lowered emergency department and inpatient healthcare costs.

In the view of the Oral Health Affinity Group, only by working together to make necessary investments in oral health can improved global access to care be achieved.¹

References

1. Neale A, Ryan M, Vujicic M, Bishen S. Investing in oral health: Here’s why the time is now.
2. FDI World Dental Federation. Vision 2030: Access to Oral Health Care Through Primary Health Care.