College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40536, USA.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2012 Oct;40 Suppl 2:141-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2012.00734.x.
Health is critical to human well-being. Oral health is an integral component of health. One is not healthy without oral health. As health is essential to human flourishing, it is important that an oral healthcare delivery system and workforce be developed and deployed which can help ensure all citizens have the potential to access oral health care. As such access does not generally exist today, it is imperative to advance the realization of this goal and to develop a vision of an oral healthcare workforce to functionally support access. Public funding of basic oral health care is an important element to improving access. However, funding is only economically feasible if a workforce exists that is structured in a manner such that duties are assigned to individuals who have been uniquely trained to fulfill specific clinical responsibilities. An essential element of any cost-effective organizational system must be the shared responsibility of duties. Delegation must occur in the oral health workforce if competent, cost-effective care is to be provided. Desirable members of the oral health team in an efficient and effective system are as follows: generalist dentists who are educated as physicians of the stomatognathic system (oral physicians), specialist dentists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, dually trained hygienists/therapists (oral health therapists), oral prosthetists (denturists), and expanded function dental assistants (dental nurses).
健康对人类福祉至关重要。口腔健康是健康的一个组成部分。没有口腔健康就没有健康。由于健康是人类繁荣的关键，因此开发和部署一个口腔医疗保健提供系统和劳动力是很重要的，这可以帮助确保所有公民都有获得口腔保健的潜力。由于目前这种机会通常并不存在，因此必须推进这一目标的实现，并制定一个口腔医疗保健劳动力的愿景，以在功能上支持这种机会。公共资金支持基本口腔保健是改善这种机会的一个重要因素。然而，如果不存在一种以特定方式构建的劳动力，即职责被分配给那些经过独特培训以履行特定临床责任的个人，那么资金支持在经济上才是可行的。任何具有成本效益的组织系统的一个基本要素必须是共同承担责任。如果要提供有能力且具有成本效益的护理，那么在口腔卫生劳动力中必须进行委托。在高效和有效的系统中，理想的口腔卫生团队成员如下：接受过口腔颌系统（口腔医生）医学教育的全科牙医、专科牙医、牙科治疗师、口腔卫生员、受过双重培训的卫生员/治疗师（口腔健康治疗师）、口腔修复师（义齿师）和扩展功能牙科助理（牙科护士）。
