Gaffar Balgis, Schroth Robert J, Foláyan Moréniké Oluwátóyìn, Ramos-Gomez Francisco, Virtanen Jorma I
Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Departments of Preventive Dental Science, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry and Departments of Pediatrics & Child Health and Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, MB, Canada.
Front Oral Health. 2024 Apr 5;5:1362647. doi: 10.3389/froh.2024.1362647. eCollection 2024.
There is no accessible information on countries with oral health policies. The purpose of this study was to identify World Dental Federation (FDI) member countries with oral health policies and their scope and extent of coverage of oral health care for young children.
This international survey recruited chief dental officers, oral health advisors to national ministries of health, and other key informants of the 158 FDI member countries between December 2020 and December 2021. The survey tool was administered online to the study participants. Key questions explored the following outcome measures: countries with oral health policies; the thrusts of the oral health policies; policy thrusts targeting young children; and dental care plans as a component of a universal health care plan. Descriptive statistics were conducted to determine the number of countries with any of the study outcome measures and coverage per country.
Sixty (38%) of the 158 FDI member-countries responded to the survey. Forty-eight (55.2%) of the 60 countries had a national oral health policy document or position statement on oral health; 54 (62.1%) countries had plans on universal health care, and 42 (48.3%) included dental care within their universal health care plan. The most common policy thrusts addressing the oral health needs of children were the promotion of oral hygiene (71.7%), provision of fluoride products for children (53.3%), collaboration with primary care providers (35%), and prenatal oral health education (50%). There were differences in the scope of oral health care coverage and the coverage for young children between continents as well as between countries. Europe had many countries with children-friendly oral health policy coverage.
About half of the surveyed countries had a national oral health policy. There were variations in the scope of oral health care coverage, particularly for young children, both between continents and among individual countries. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the landscape of oral health policies globally. Such insights can help inform targeted interventions to enhance oral health policies, thereby contributing to improved oral health outcomes on a global level.
目前尚无关于拥有口腔健康政策国家的可获取信息。本研究的目的是确定世界牙科联盟（FDI）成员国中拥有口腔健康政策的国家，以及这些国家针对幼儿口腔保健的政策范围和覆盖程度。
这项国际调查在2020年12月至2021年12月期间招募了158个FDI成员国的首席牙科官员、国家卫生部口腔健康顾问及其他关键信息提供者。调查工具通过在线方式发放给研究参与者。关键问题探讨了以下结果指标：拥有口腔健康政策的国家；口腔健康政策的重点；针对幼儿的政策重点；以及作为全民健康保险计划一部分的牙科护理计划。进行描述性统计以确定具有任何一项研究结果指标的国家数量以及每个国家的覆盖情况。
158个FDI成员国中有60个（38%）回复了调查。这60个国家中有48个（55.2%）拥有国家口腔健康政策文件或口腔健康立场声明；54个（62.1%）国家有全民健康保险计划，其中42个（48.3%）将牙科护理纳入其全民健康保险计划。满足儿童口腔健康需求最常见的政策重点是促进口腔卫生（71.7%）、为儿童提供氟化物产品（53.3%）、与初级保健提供者合作（35%）以及产前口腔健康教育（50%）。各大洲之间以及各国之间在口腔保健覆盖范围和幼儿覆盖范围方面存在差异。欧洲有许多国家提供有利于儿童的口腔健康政策覆盖。
约一半的受访国家拥有国家口腔健康政策。口腔保健覆盖范围存在差异，尤其是针对幼儿的覆盖范围，在各大洲之间以及各个国家之间均是如此。这些发现强调了了解全球口腔健康政策格局的重要性。此类见解有助于为有针对性的干预措施提供信息，以加强口腔健康政策，从而在全球范围内改善口腔健康结果。
