Oral Health: The Key to a Healthy Smile?

Dear Colleagues,

Epidemiologic and clinical studies strongly suggest the critical importance of oral health to systemic health. Nevertheless, the misconception that oral health care is not an essential health service and is thus a matter of choice rather than necessity was present among general public and public health experts until recently. Namely, in November 2022, the WHO, in its global strategy on oral health, proposed universal oral health coverage for all people by 2030, by means that “every individual has access to essential, quality health services that respond to their needs and which they can use without suffering financial hardship”. Oral health crisis is linked to another global health problem, antimicrobial resistance, and dentists could help by becoming involved with collaborative antimicrobial stewardship. Oral health is integral to overall health, well-being, and optimal quality of life. Oral diseases share modifiable risk factors common to the leading noncommunicable diseases, such as tobacco use, alcohol use, high sugar intake, and the human papilloma virus infection, all related to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cancer. These facts impose that patient-tailored oral health strategies need to be integrated within appropriate overall health agenda. Such tailored diagnosis/treatment relies on the close collaboration of dental experts and doctors of other medical specialties as well as the introduction of supplemental tools to improve the precision of diagnosis, treatment planning, and prediction of treatment results, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the provision of oral health services, leading to oral health deterioration, increased antibiotic prescriptions, and greater oral health inequalities. However, data are scarce on oral health management in the post-COVID-19 era. Therefore, dental and general public health research activities and initiatives aiming at oral health promotion and oral disease prevention as well as the introduction of new strategies, such as AI-based systems use, are needed.

Dr. Jelena R. Roganović
Guest Editor

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• oral health promotion
• oral diseases
• quality of life
• type 2 diabetes mellitus
• cardiovascular disease
• COVID-19
• artificial intelligence
• antibiotic stewardship