Abstract
Everyone will be impacted by oral disease at some point in life. Dental caries (tooth decay) is the most widespread chronic disease worldwide, impacting nearly 100% of adults and 60–90% of school children. In addition, about 30% of people aged 65–74 have no natural teeth, and severe periodontal disease impacts 15–20% of middle-aged (35–44 years) adults globally. These staggering statistics demonstrate evidence of significant oral health neglect across the general population. This chapter discusses the challenges and solutions to improving oral health in low- and middle-income countries.
The objective is to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the relationship between oral health and systemic health, define social determinants of oral health, and the impact dental public health initiatives can have on overall health and lifestyle choices.
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Gambacorta, J.E., Stellrecht, E., Harris, J.M. (2020). The Importance and Challenge of Oral Health in LMICs: Perspectives from Dental Medicine, Dental Librarianship, and Dental Administration. In: Smith, K., Ram, P. (eds) Transforming Global Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32112-3_10
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