Oral Health Behaviors and Availability of Dental Services Among Children and Adults

Preventing Chronic Disease has just released an entire collection of oral health articles. This collection represents the journal’s first ever full-collection focusing exclusively on oral public health. It also includes a guest editorial co-authored by Mr. Casey Hannan and Dr. Lorena Espinoza from CDC’s Division of Oral Health, RADM Tim Ricks, and Dr. Jane Weintraub. This editorial and collection of 8 articles discusses contemporary dental public health challenges and opportunities. These include inequities in access to dental care, disparities in prevalence of oral disease, the relationship between oral health and chronic diseases, and the impact of COVID-19 on access to oral health services and disease monitoring.

This editorial’s underlying foundation of the Healthy People 2030 oral health objectives provides solutions for improving oral health and overall health in the United States. The articles provide a snapshot of why oral health needs to be elevated as a policy priority by being integrated into discussions and policy decisions about health. Addressing the social, behavioral, and environmental determinants of health as part of oral health care offers a new approach to prevention and treatment.