Reaching out to the community: the activities of the FDI-WHO Joint Working Group 10 on Periodontal Health Services.

Improving access to oral health care by reaching out to the community is demonstrated in the projects of the Joint FDI-WHO Working Group 10 on Periodontal Health Services. Members and associates of this Group conduct health services research in field projects in twelve countries around the world. An overview of important issues is presented on behalf of this Group. The first step in reaching out to the community is to increase awareness about oral health and oral diseases among the public in general and the individual as the potential patient. However, it has been demonstrated, and this must be remembered, that increasing awareness within the profession, on for instance preventive periodontics, is sometimes even more important. In some countries with government-controlled health services the prime targets for increasing awareness are health service administrators and political decision makers. Reaching out to the community requires the concerted efforts of the dental (and medical) profession, community leaders and health administrators. Evaluation of the impact is most important. There are, of course, numerous potential benefits for society and the individual. There are also examples of benefits for governments, health professionals professional organizations.