Peer Editing task

Project Paper: Introduction

Student Name

February 24, 2019

Words count: 702

Addressing Dental Health Disparities in the Atlanta Areas

According to Ogunbodede, “Health inequality is the generic term used to designate differences, variations, and disparities in the health achievements of individuals and groups,” while “health inequity refers to those inequalities in health that are deemed to be unfair or stemming from some form of injustice”.1

Dental caries and periodontal diseases have historically been considered the most important global oral health burdens.2 At present, the distribution and severity of oral diseases vary among different parts of the world and within the same country or region.2 In many developing countries, access to oral health services is limited and teeth are often left untreated or are extracted because of pain or discomfort. Throughout the world, losing teeth is still seen as a natural consequence of ageing.2 Despite great achievements in oral health of populations globally, problems still remain in many communities all over the world - particularly among under-privileged groups in developed and developing countries.2

In the United States, oral disease is a remarkable health problem.3 Epidemiologically, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 91% of U.S. adults aged 20–64 had dental caries in permanent teeth in 2011–2012. Dental caries among adults aged 35–64 was higher (94%–97%) compared with adults aged 20–34 (82%).4 The prevalence of caries among adults aged 20–64 was lower for Hispanic (85%), non-Hispanic black (86%), and non-Hispanic Asian (85%) adults compared with non-Hispanic white adults (94%).4

This paper aims to identify the causes/risks factors of dental health disparities and the population at greatest risk for poor oral health, and to examine how adequate oral health care access or equal distribution of clinicians as environmental contribution pairing with available federal funding as political involvement and direct financial contributions along with awareness, and early adoption of preventive methods can be achievable approach to reducing oral health disparities in the Atlanta areas.5 Toward this goal, during those 120 hours (16 weeks) in the field while addressing this problem, this writer intends to elaborate 3 objectives which are: 1) knowledge and attitudes improvement about oral health/needs among 80% of patients within 4 weeks. 2) Adoption of preventive methods against oral diseases among 90% of patients within 8 weeks. 3) Reduction of oral health disparities in Mid-Town Atlanta by 70% at the end of the practicum.

These objectives will certainly be supported by: the use of best practices to assess community and population health needs, assets, and resources for dental health promotion purposes pertaining to the first objective; a demonstration of appropriate and effective communication and advocacy skills when interacting with diverse audiences in the context of health promotion activities concerning the second objective; and the application of ethical and effective leadership and management skills to build and maintain work teams, organizational relationships, and community collaborations in support of public health efforts regarding the third objective, which are three of the Liberty University public health competencies.9

References

1. Ogunbodede EO, Kida IA, Madjapa HS, et al. Oral Health Inequalities between Rural and Urban Populations of the African and Middle East Region. Advances in Dental Research. 2015

2. The World Health Organization (WHO). What is the Burden of Oral Disease? Available at https://www.who.int/oral_health/disease_burden/global/en/. Last accessed on February 5, 2019

3. Pourat N, Andersen RM, Marcus M. Assessing the contribution of the dental care delivery system to oral health care disparities. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. 2015