Need for Oral Health Policy in India

Abstract

Dental diseases are a significant public health menace having a substantial impact on the quality of life which in turn affects the daily performance and general life satisfaction. There is a vast difference in health status including the oral health between urban and rural population of India and in other developing countries. The existing situation demands the formulation and implementation of National Oral Health Policy in India in order to expand the oral health care to make it more affordable, and reachable. An extensive literature search was conducted using various search engines in order to include relevant information in the review. Number of keywords and their combinations were used in order to extract appropriate data. Finally 24 out of 35 articles were selected upon detailed reading. The present paper focusses on some of the important subjects that can be considered while formulation of a National Oral Health Policy for the benefits of both the dental profession and community as a whole. There is a need of dental health planners and policy makers that have relevant qualifications and training in public health dentistry to understand the unique needs and resources for the development of an effective oral health policy. Professional dental organizations can also support government programs to provide basic oral health needs of extensive underserved population of this country.

Keywords: Developing country; India; Mobile dentistry; Oral policy; Partnership.