Oral Health, Dental Education and Research: A Commentary

Oral Health, Dental Education and Research: A Commentary.

Despite major advances in oral health in some communities there is rampant dental
and oral disease worldwide. Indeed dental caries and periodontal disease still top the league
table as the commonest infections in humans.

Though more research is needed there is evidence to indicate that oral disease is linked to systemic disease. Despite these revelations and the high prevalence of oral disease, the dental education systems worldwide are facing fundamental challenges due to social, economic and technological reasons.

These challenges will not be adequately addressed with anything less than a concerted response from the government, community, alumni, and industry. Only then can the faculties or schools of Dentistry flourish and provide a stimulating and quality environment for graduates to develop their full potential and to hone their competitive advantage for a challenging career in a fast-changing world.

In this article the author describes the current dental landscape globally, and then addresses the
multifarious challenges in education, research, and resource support that constantly challenges
the delivery of dental pedagogy worldwide.

Dentistry has made great strides over the last century since the days of the Barber
Surgeons. One of the major changes that led, for example, to the reduction in caries is the
discovery of the properties of fluoride, and the observation that people who lived in communities
with naturally fluoridated drinking water had far less dental caries than people in comparable
communities without fluoride in their water supply.

Community water fluoridation is arguably one of the great achievements of public health in the twentieth century, and the most far reaching of all in dentistry.

Dent Open J. 2015; 2(3): 74-76. doi: 10.17140/DOJ-2-114