Category Page: Oral HP Integration

According to the World Health Organization, health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health.

Oral health promotion focuses on improving health of the hard and soft tissues that constitute the oral cavity, and the capacity of people to have control over the conditions that affect their health. The aims and strategies of oral health promotion build on the foundations of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, and address the social, political and environmental elements that contribute to health known as the determinants of health.

The World Health Organization’s strategic directions on Health Promotion and Oral Health include reducing oral disease burden, promoting oral health, developing equitable oral health systems, and integration of oral health into national and community health programs[1].

Best Practices that incorporate these components of strategic planning are included in this section.

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Resources

The evidence for oral health promotion and integration of services

There is clear research support for the incorporation of oral health into general health promotion approaches. Since the mid-1990s there has been increasing evidence for reducing caries through health promotion activities that encourage the use of fluoride[2]; focusing on oral health promotion activities among the elderly population[3]; and that oral health education/promotion can be effective in bringing about changes in people’s knowledge and in improving people’s oral health[4].

Oral health promotion is best achieved when it is integrated with other health or community organizations. An extensive review of the evidence of effectiveness of oral health promotion[5] for the “Healthy Mouths Healthy Lives” Australia’s National Oral Health Plan 2004–13 plan found that there is emerging evidence supporting multi-strategy community based approaches that integrate with local services. Improving oral health literacy, and in some places reducing dental caries levels, appears to be linked to participative approaches, flexible delivery and integration of promotion strategies with local services.

References

  1. World Health Organization [Internet]. Geneva: Health Promotion and Oral Health. Available from Strategies and approaches in oral disease prevention and health promotion.
  2. Kay E, Locker D. A systematic review of the effectiveness of health promotion aimed at improving oral health. Community Dent Health. 1998 Sep;15(3):132-44.
  3. McGrath C, Zhang W, Lo EC. A review of the effectiveness of oral health promotion activities among elderly people. Gerodontology. 2009 Jun;26(2):85-96.
  4. Sprod A J, Anderson R, Treasure E. Effective oral health promotion: Literature review. Health Promotion Wales 1996. Cited in Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)
  5. Satur JG, Gussy MG, Morgan MV, Calache H, Wright C. Review of the evidence for oral health promotion effectiveness. Health Education Journal 2010;69(3):257-266.

Subtopics

  1. Strategic Planning for Oral Health
  2. Dental Surveillance, Monitoring and Screening
  3. Oral Health Promotion and Integration of Services
  4. Oral Health Promotion for Vulnerable Populations
  5. Oral Health Promotion for Infants & Preschool Children
  6. Oral Health Promotion for Children and Youth

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