Biomaterial Database

Community-specific, preventive oral health policies: preventive measures on dental caries. 2010

Shahrokh Esfandiari, and Nekky Jamal, and Jocelyne Feine

Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. shahrokh.esfandiari@mcgill.ca

In all health fields, limited infrastructure and resources hinder the provision of basic services to low-income populations. Subsequently, oral health is often neglected, as over 90% of caries remains untreated in developing communities. In order to deliver the most cost-effective prevention methods, public health officials must assess each available strategy on an individual community basis. In this paper, examples from oral health will demonstrate the importance of community-specific determinants in the formation of preventive public health policies. These determinants include economical, cultural, social, and political elements that can assist policy makers in generating effective functional public health policies.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011050	Policy Making	The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures.	Analysis, Policy,Policy Analysis,Policy Development,Analyses, Policy,Development, Policy,Developments, Policy,Making, Policy,Policy Analyses,Policy Developments
D011313	Preventive Dentistry	The branch of dentistry concerned with the prevention of disease and the maintenance and promotion of oral health.	Dentistries, Preventive,Dentistry, Preventive,Preventive Dentistries
D002327	Cariostatic Agents	Substances that inhibit or arrest DENTAL CARIES formation. (Boucher's Clinical Dental Terminology, 4th ed)	Cariostatic Effect,Cariostatic Effects,Agent, Cariostatic,Agents, Cariostatic,Cariostatic Agent,Effect, Cariostatic,Effects, Cariostatic
D003149	Community Dentistry	The practice of dentistry concerned with preventive as well as diagnostic and treatment programs in a circumscribed population.	Dentistry, Community
D003731	Dental Caries	Localized destruction of the tooth surface initiated by decalcification of the enamel followed by enzymatic lysis of organic structures and leading to cavity formation. If left unchecked, the cavity may penetrate the enamel and dentin and reach the pulp.	Caries, Dental,Carious Lesions,Dental Cavities,Dental Cavity,Dental Decay,Dental White Spots,Carious Dentin,Decay, Dental,Dental White Spot,White Spot, Dental,White Spots, Dental,Carious Dentins,Carious Lesion,Cavities, Dental,Cavity, Dental,Dentin, Carious,Dentins, Carious,Lesion, Carious,Lesions, Carious,Spot, Dental White,Spots, Dental White
D005457	Fluoridation	Practice of adding fluoride to water, and other food or beverages, for the purpose of preventing DENTAL CARIES.	Milk Fluoridation,Salt Fluoridation,Water Fluoridation,Fluoridation, Milk,Fluoridation, Salt,Fluoridation, Water
D005459	Fluorides	Inorganic salts of hydrofluoric acid, HF, in which the fluorine atom is in the -1 oxidation state. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed) Sodium and stannous salts are commonly used in dentifrices.	Fluoride
D006291	Health Policy	Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.	Health Care Policies,Health Policies,Healthcare Policy,National Health Policy,Care Policies, Health,Health Care Policy,Health Policy, National,Healthcare Policies,National Health Policies,Policies, Health,Policies, Health Care,Policies, Healthcare,Policy, Health,Policy, Health Care,Policy, Healthcare
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D064890	Social Determinants of Health	The circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age, as well as the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics (http://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/).	Commercial Determinants of Health,Socio-Economic Determinants of Health,Structural Determinants of Health,Socio Economic Determinants of Health