Profile of the oral healthcare team in countries with emerging economies

Abstract

Health is a critical dimension of human well‐being and flourishing, and oral health is an integral component of health: one is not healthy without oral health. Significant barriers exist to ensuring the world’s people receive basic healthcare, including oral healthcare. Amongst these are poverty, ignorance, inadequate financial resources and lack of adequate numbers of educated and trained (oral) healthcare workers. Emerging economies are encouraged to develop a national strategic plan for oral health. International organizations have developed goals for oral health that can be referenced and adapted by emerging economies as they seek to formulate specific objectives for their countries. Demographic data that assess the nature and extent of oral diseases in a country are essential to sound planning and the development of an oral healthcare system that is relevant, effective and economically viable. Prevention should be emphasized and priority consideration be given to oral healthcare for children. The types and numbers of members of the oral healthcare team (workforce) will vary from country to country depending on the system developed. Potential members of the workforce include: generalist dentists, specialist dentists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, denturists, expanded function dental assistants (dental nurses) and community oral health workers/aides. Competences for dentists, and other members of the team, should be developed to ensure quality care and developed economies should cooperate with emerging economies. The development, by more advanced economies, of digital, virtual curricula, which could be used by emerging economies for educating and training members of the oral healthcare team, should be an important initiative. The International Federation of Dental Educators and Associations (IFDEA) should lead in such an effort.

OCT Application in Direct Dental Restorations Marginal Fit Evaluation

“…A recent study investigated the performance of dental amalgam comparative with dental composite in extensive posterior restorations [30]. Different risk factors for restoration failure like age, sex, alcohol consumption, smoking, diabetes, periodontal status and also matrix metalloproteinase genetic polymorphisms were analysed [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. Data obtained from this study showed similar rates of failure for amalgam and composites up to 5 years, the authors concluding that resin composites could replace amalgam for posterior extensive restorations.…”

Profiling alumni of a Brazilian public dental school

“…Descriptive analysis showed some universal characteristics of dentists' population elsewhere: predominance of women , high levels of professional involvement ( dentistry as main occupation and high weekly workload ), predominance of workers in private dental service , and a tendency toward specialization and concentration in large cities [4,5,10]. Bravo-Péres [1] found a similar situation in Spain in 2004 and Brown and Lazar [14] described how, in the United States of America, the decline in private practice started at the beginning of the 1990 s. In Brazil, a similar situation occurred at the same time when there was an increased demand and utilization of public dental services.…”

“…Recent studies underlined recommendations for a strategic national oral health care plan for countries with both developed [4] and emerging economies [5]. The recent Brazilian national curriculum guidelines for university dental courses are consistent with public health policies, which emphasize the need for general dental practitioners focused on primary oral health care, with the ability to cooperate across different professional disciplines.…”

Greece's High Dentist to Population Ratio: Comparisons, Causes, and Effects

“…However, for the allocation of human resources, it is necessary to develop prognostic models that incorporate demand for dental services as well. [13][14][15][16] Since the beginning of the 1980s, the increase in the number of dentists in some countries has led their governments to take measures to curtail the number of new students and to close dental schools. In other countries, no measures have been taken.…”