Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General–Executive Summary

United States Department of Health and Human Services

"We have gone from a nation plagued by the pains of toothache and tooth loss to a nation where most people can smile about their oral health."

The recent report of the Surgeon General discusses major findings in the area of oral health, which the report stresses is essential to general health and well-being. It also provides a framework for action to enable us all to make more progress in this field.

Most of us know that oral health involves our teeth and gums. The report emphasizes, however, that oral health means much more than healthy teeth. Oral health also includes being free from chronic oral and facial pain, oral and throat cancers, oral soft tissue lesions, birth defects such as cleft lip, and other diseases that affect the oral, dental, and craniofacial tissues. These tissues are the ones that allow us to speak, smile, sigh, kiss, smell, taste, chew, cry out, and convey many feelings through facial expressions.

In addition to the theme expressed above–that oral health includes more than healthy teeth–other themes form the foundation for the rest of the report, including–

• Oral health is integral to general health
  
• Safe and effective disease prevention measures exist that everyone can adopt to improve oral health and prevent disease
  
• General health risk factors, such as tobacco use and poor dietary practices, also affect oral and craniofacial health

The Secretary of Health and Human Services asked that the report, commissioned by the Surgeon General, "define, describe and evaluate the interaction between oral health and [quality of life] through the life span in the context of changes in society." The report covers the following topics–

• Part one outlines the meaning of oral health and provides an overview of the craniofacial complex in development and aging
  
• Part two describes the major diseases and disorders that affect the craniofacial complex and gives an oral health status report card to the United States
  
• Part three focuses on the relationship between oral health and general health and well-being
  
• Part four reviews how oral health is promoted and maintained and how oral diseases are prevented
  
• Part five focuses on what we need to do to enhance oral health

One of the major findings of the report is that oral diseases and disorders affect health and well-being throughout life. These conditions and some of the treatments used to address them sometimes undermine self-esteem, discourage normal social interaction, lead to depression, and can possibly interfere with work, school, and family interactions.

Another important finding, especially relevant to the Head Start community, is that there are profound oral health disparities within the U.S. population. These disparities relate to income, age, sex, race or ethnicity, and medical status. Not everyone is informed of or can take advantage of appropriate health-promoting measures. Furthermore, social, economic, and cultural factors affect how health services are delivered and used. One approach to improving access to care involves making dental insurance more available. Currently, public coverage for dental care is minimal for adults, and programs for children have not been able to reach all of the eligible beneficiaries.

Though we have made significant strides in oral health, steps still need to be taken to improve quality of life and eliminate health disparities. The report describes a National Oral Health Plan which provides a framework for action to–

1. Change perceptions regarding oral health and disease so that oral health becomes an accepted component of general health

2. Apply scientific research to effectively improve oral health

3. Build an effective health infrastructure that meets the needs of everyone and integrates oral health into overall health

4. Remove barriers to care related to access, utilization, financing, and reimbursement of services

5. Use public-private partnerships to improve the oral health of those who suffer disproportionately from oral diseases