Report: Policymakers given steps to act against dental caries

The report is the product of discussions that took place at a Policy Lab meeting in June. This session for the first time brought together individuals from a range of different backgrounds—dentists, economists, public health officials, policy advisers, educators and psychologists—to provide new perspectives on the continuing problem of dental caries.

While the science on preventing the disease and stopping early-stage caries progressing is already well understood, efforts to apply it have so far fallen short, the report’s experts emphasised. They estimate that the potential economic and health benefits of a cavity-free world are significant, especially considering that caries has common risk factors with other non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Reducing the risk factors associated with caries could thereby also help improve health more generally and reduce the financial costs arising from other conditions, they explained.

To have policymakers actively engaged in the fight against the disease, systematic economic and comprehensive clinical data must be collected, the report urged. In addition, increased efforts should be made to accelerate the move towards a greater focus on preventative dental care. To this end, the authors proposed creating new remuneration systems for dentists to ensure that caries prevention and control are properly rewarded, as well as promoting efforts to encourage behaviour change in the public and implementing incentives for the industry to adopt more socially responsible agendas, among other measures.

Concerning the proposal to revise dental remuneration systems, ACFF Global Chairman Dr Nigel Pitts told Dental Tribune Online: “Current payment systems do not typically pay dentists to ‘do prevention’ and there is no financial incentive for dentists to spend time and resources on preventatively oriented care pathways. In order to see progress, this needs to change.”

In addition, Pitts highlighted the importance of closer collaboration between dental and medical practitioners. “Maximising the effectiveness of caries preventative caries management will increasingly draw on a multidisciplined workforce of teams made up of professionals with a mix of skills best suited to the environment they work in and the range of patients they support. This involves empowering the existing workforce with the knowledge they need and also, where possible, expanding the range of people who can advise, refer and, in some cases, treat around issues of dental caries and dental health.”

Untreated dental caries in permanent teeth affects 2.4 billion people and was the most prevalent condition among all participants evaluated in the 2016 Lancet Global Burden of Disease study. Untreated caries in children’s teeth was the tenth most prevalent condition, affecting over 621 million children worldwide.

“It is our job as dental and health professionals to ensure that the health of the public and patients is our priority. By working together across stakeholders to progress a shift towards prevention rather than just restorative treatment of caries, we will be ensuring a healthier future for millions as well as securing greater access to care for excluded patients,” Pitts said.

The full report can be downloaded here.

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