Oral health is a vital yet often overlooked aspect of overall health, significantly impacting quality of life and systemic health. Despite its significance, profound disparities in access to affordable and quality dental care persist globally. The COVID-19 pandemic has starkly highlighted the vulnerabilities within oral healthcare systems worldwide. The cessation of routine dental services disrupted patient care and the training of future dental professionals. As we approach the 2030 targets for universal health coverage incorporating oral health, interdisciplinary collaboration is urgently needed to integrate the wide scope of oral and maxillofacial conditions into broader health systems and promote health equity.
AcademyHealth’s Oral Health Interest Group (OHIG) presented "Setting the Global Oral Health Agenda: Research, Policy & Beyond” at the 2024 ARM. This session emphasized the critical need to integrate oral health into broader health systems, especially post-pandemic, which disrupted dental services and research. The goal of this initiative was to encourage collaborations with oral health and to revive the OHIG, ensuring that oral health and systems research receive the necessary resources to improve health services research and foster discussions with other Interest Groups.
The OHIG session brought together stakeholders from diverse fields (to discuss the multifaceted nature of oral health challenges, address the pandemic's impact, explore economic and global perspectives, and highlight the need for integrated health systems.
Learning from Past Success and Session Takeaways
Inspired by the success of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Global Oral Health Symposium 2023 and building on the momentum from a collaborative session at the American Public Health Association meeting in Atlanta 2023, our session fostered a vibrant interdisciplinary discourse. The symposium demonstrated the effectiveness of multidisciplinary approaches in advancing oral health policy and education, setting a benchmark for future efforts.
- Historic Perspective. Dr. Sujay Mehta introduced the session with dental education’s historic silo beginning in 1840 Baltimore. He emphasized this separation of dentistry from general medicine and the implications for health services research and policy. He outlined recent calls to action for integrating oral health with medicine and public health and recognized the role of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to continue work towards integrating the mouth into health care.
- Economic Lens. Dr. Kevin Frick provided a compelling analysis of oral health through an economic perspective, illustrating the financial barriers that impede access, availability, and affordability of dental care. The complex interplay and the interdependence of these factors, the broader economic implications of poor oral health reinforce the need for cross-sectoral collaborations beyond silos.
- Global Perspectives. IfeOluwa Adetula from the ZeroNOMA Initiative highlighted the global burden of noma, recently recognized as a neglected tropical disease. NOMA is fatal gangrene that affects the mouth and face and devastates children in impoverished communities. His discussion underscored the moral and ethical imperative to address neglected diseases and integrate them into global health strategies with on-the-ground early recognition strategies.
- Global to ‘Glocal’. Drawing from her experiences with Solidarity Dental and the Village Life Outreach Project, Dr. Priyanka Gudsoorkar presented oral health analysis from local to global perspectives essential for comprehending and addressing oral health disparities. She reinforced the impact of global health strategic lessons with applications to domestic challenges in underserved Indigenous communities in the United States.
Next Steps: Strengthening the Oral Health Interest Group
The OHIG session transitioned into a discussion with attendees and panelists on next steps to revitalize the OHIG. The group is committed to forming a leadership team, securing necessary resources, and cultivating strategic partnerships to maintain progress and accomplish long-term objectives. Members discussed the potential for knowledge exchange, dissemination of research findings, and informed policy and clinical decision-making. This gathering was instrumental in building research skills and fostering a collaborative network of professionals dedicated to improving global oral health.
The discussion utilized the strategic priorities highlighted in the infographic (See Figure 1.) to guide the conversation, focusing on key interests such as creating a dedicated budget for oral health, advocating for a global oral health action plan, and exploring collaborations to strengthen leadership. Through vibrant discussions and shared insights, the session advanced the integration of oral health into broader health systems.
The revitalization of the Oral Health Interest Group marks a significant milestone in addressing global oral health disparities. By integrating oral health into broader health systems and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, we can work towards a future where oral health is recognized as integral to overall health and well-being. This commentary calls on stakeholders to support these efforts and contribute to a unified approach to advancing global oral health equity.