Global aspects of preventive dental care

This paper reviews some of the evidence of success for preventive dentistry in the global context and presents some challenges for preventive dentistry in the coming years. Rather than attempting a detailed analysis of individual countries the global view looks at trends and patterns of prevention, care and disease in the context of demographic and other societal changes. In citing examples from countries with which the author has associations, the paper emphasises the trend for fewer and fewer differences between countries, with both developing and developed countries converging in relation to oral health trends and demographics trends. The main future challenges to preventive dentistry firstly relate to the demographic changes combined with overall attitude changes to oral health. Secondly, it is a challenge for preventive dentistry to address the common disease risk factors approach and make the contribution of preventive dentistry a natural component of integrated population health strategies. Finally, there are major challenges to improve the methodologies that we are using for documenting most of the preventive dentistry activities in which we are involved and establish a relevant evidence base.