June 2016

Volume 33, Issue 2

Editorial - Prevention of dental caries through the use of fluoride – the WHO approach

Authors: Hiroshi Ogawa Poul Erik Petersen
doi: 10.1922/CDH_Petersen03

Abstract

Editorial Prevention of dental caries through the use of fluoride – the WHO approach Poul Erik Petersen and Hiroshi Ogawa Dental caries continues to pose an important public health problem across the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that the disease affects about 60–90% of schoolchildren, the vast majority of adults and that dental caries contributes to an extensive loss of natural teeth in older people globally (Petersen, 2008a; WHO, 2016). Meanwhile, in most westernized high income countries, an improvement in dental health has taken place over the past three decades in parallel with the introduction of prevention-oriented oral health systems. A decline in the prevalence and the severity of dental caries is particularly observed in countries having established public health programmes using fluoride for dental caries prevention, coupled with changing living conditions, healthier lifestyles, and improved self-care practices. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia dental caries levels are high and with health systems in transition the exposure of the population to fluoride for disease prevention has diminished dramatically.

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Other articles in this issue

Article Pages Access
Editorial - Prevention of dental caries through the use of fluoride – the WHO approach 66-68 Download
Fluoride and Oral Health 69-99 Download
Child oral health in migrant families: A cross-sectional study of caries in 1-4 year old children from migrant backgrounds residing in Melbourne, Australia 100-106 Download
Choosing a measure of Health Related Quality of Life 107-115 Download
Feasibility, utility and impact of a national dental epidemiological survey of three-year-old children in England 2013 116-120 Download
Dental anxiety, concomitant factors and change in prevalence over 50 years 121-126 Download
A bi-level intervention to improve oral hygiene of older and disabled adults in low-income housing: results of a pilot study 127-132 Download
Association between child caries and maternal health-related behaviours 133-137 Download
Caries and costs: an evaluation of a school-based fluoride varnish programme for adolescents in a Swedish region 138-144 Download
Examiner reliability in fluorosis scoring: a comparison of photographic and clinical methods 145-150 Download
The mouth as a site of structural inequalities; an introduction 151-151 Download
The mouth and dis/ability 152-155 Download
Inequalities in oral health: the role of sociology 156-160 Download
The mouth as a site of structural inequalities; the experience of Aboriginal Australians 161-163 Download
Do ‘poor areas’ get the services they deserve? The role of dental services in structural inequalities in oral health 164-167 Download
Overcoming structural inequalities in oral health: the role of dental curricula 168-172 Download

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