[Innovative trends in dentistry: background, bases and outlook].

This article briefly analyzes the present situation in dental practice with emphasis on its inherent discrepancies, and describes the background, theoretic and methodologic bases, and prospects of the PAHO/WHO Program of Innovation in Dental Education and Care. An account is given of the conceptual framework of the Program, which is based on the hypothesis that changes in oral health in a country depend partly on the national socioeconomic situation at any given point in its history. At the same time, it is recognized that there is leeway in the general political setting for the trial and application of plans for curricula and care that can work quantitative and qualitative changes in the educational and service sectors. There follows a description of the operational arrangement and the subprograms and prpkects going forward in 16 dental schools of Latin America.