Oral health: A key indicator of overall health, well-being and quality of life
This is how the World Health Organization (WHO) introduces the topic oral health on their webpage,[1] an important but again neglected health topic. During my medical studies, I did not even have to do an exam in dental or oral health. In fact, we only had one lecture on dental physiology and pathophysiology during those six years of study. This is a shame, if you ask me. Dental and oral health are important for everyone, every day. The...
Oral health: A key indicator of overall health, well-being and quality of life
This is how the World Health Organization (WHO) introduces the topic oral health on their webpage,[1] an important but again neglected health topic. During my medical studies, I did not even have to do an exam in dental or oral health. In fact, we only had one lecture on dental physiology and pathophysiology during those six years of study. This is a shame, if you ask me. Dental and oral health are important for everyone, every day. The world’s most common health condition, according to the Global Burden of Disease 2017, involves untreated dental caries in permanent teeth.[2] And in the year 2016, almost 3.6 billion people were affected by an oral disease.[1] We all use our mouth and teeth every day. If it is not to eat or drink, it is to smile, talk and kiss. And if we have a problem with it ‘we can miss it like a toothache’. Unfortunately, oral and dental health care are not part of universal health coverage (UHC), and treatment for related conditions are expensive. In most high-income countries, 5% of the total and 20% of out-of-pocket health expenditure is to cover the treatment of dental problems.[1] Most low- and middle-income countries are unable to provide services to prevent and treat oral health conditions.[1] Even in the Netherlands, we need an organization like Dokters van de Wereld to make a plan for the coverage of dental care services in the basic health insurance package, while almost 1.5 million people cannot afford a regular visit to their dentist.[3] Recent good news, however, is the approval of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for boys (and not only girls) in the Netherlands, since HPV is known to be a leading cause of oropharyngeal cancers in the world.[4] This first edition of our MTbulletin 2022 is all about oral health. We learn about it as a public health challenge, about how our mouth tells us about our general mental and physical well-being, and we present some interesting cases. Also, you will find an interview with Sytse Fluitsma, a role model in relation to neglected diseases in a neglected group of people. Before wishing you a pleasant read, I would like to thank all authors for their contribution to this edition of MTb. It was a pleasure to read and re-read the stories and articles you shared with us.
Maud Ariaans