The goal of this blog is encourage dialogue from the readership. Dentistry like all health sciences is in a state of flux, impacted upon by economic changes and technologic shifts in the service mix. Nothing is as relevant or helpful as the intel gathered from grunts in the field. That’s us my wet-fingered amis…….nous sommes les enfants de la guerre. Your comments are not only welcome, they are necessary.
In order to address common goals to improve oral health,
partnerships and alliances among dental, other health care professional and
public health organizations, as well as business and social service groups
should beestablished and supported.
From the ADA……
• Oral health needs of the public should be addressed
aggressively through preventive measures like fluoridation and sealants;
educational efforts aimed at preventing life-threatening diseases such as oral
cancer; programs targeted to special needs populations; financing and
reimbursement programs, especially for low-income individuals; databases to
monitor and help predict the public’s oral health needs, disease and lifestyle
behavior patterns.
• With the help of increased resources, the interaction
between research and education should be strengthened, and new approaches
facilitating the transfer of emerging scientific knowledge into clinical
practice, such as the use of televised sessions and CD-ROMs, should be
implemented.
• Efforts should be made to recruit and retain individuals
in dental professional careers,as well as in dental research and education,and methods should be developed to address the mobility and distribution of the
dental workforce.
• Strategies should be developed addressing the fiscal needs
of the practice, education and research aspects of dentistry to overcome
important problems being faced, such as underserved populations with restricted
access to care resulting from poorly funded programs, facilities and services;
facilities that have fallen into disrepair because
of insufficient funds to modernize them; and the shortage of
faculty members and researchers vital to the advancement of dentistry.
• A formal organization with members from various dental
associations representing dental practice, education and research should be
established to meet resource and funding needs of those requiring oral health
services and those providing them.
• The combined resources of the dental profession and dental
industry should be utilized, with an emphasis placed on the development of
highly targeted collaborative marketing and public relations initiatives.
