IOM study calls for increased oral health awareness in the U.S.

This is the point of a new report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Advancing Oral Health in America, which underscores a public health crisis that has persisted more than a decade after the U.S. Surgeon General called for aggressively reversing the "silent epidemic" of America's oral health disparity. Many of the most pernicious oral health diseases are highly preventable and treatable.

The IOM study, urging the federal government to launch a new initiative on oral health, aligns with a pioneering community-based dentistry model funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Composed of 23 university-based demonstration projects across the country, the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice program (Dental Pipeline) focused on boosting student diversity in dental schools and expanding treatment to underserved patients.

Lower-income African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians tend to suffer oral health disparities and lower access to dental care and prevention compared to white Americans. The IOM study calls for increased public awareness among the underserved populations and widespread oral health literacy among the general population, including oral health professionals.