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ePaper created 2017-03-15, 10:03:19 | version 1.38.0
04 INTERVIEW Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition | 3/2017 “A preventative health care system is also a cost-efficient health care system” An interview with Prof. Jörg Eberhard, Australia By Kristin Hübner, DTI On the occasion of this year’s World Oral Health Day (WOHD) on 20 March, Prof. Jörg Eberhard from the University of Sydney will be pre- Dental Tribune: Can you explain what is meant by the title of your lecture, “Putting the mouth into health”? Irrespective of this body of knowledge, a holistic view on medical conditions that includes oral health has not been estab major challenge for the dental profession. Furthermore, teach ing of the association between oral and general health to medi “A holistic view on medical conditions that includes oral health has not been established in clinical medical practice.” senting the Australian WOHD lec- ture, titled “#PuttingTheMouthIn- toHealth—Time for a paradigm change in dentistry!”. Dental Trib- une had the opportunity to speak with Eberhard, who was appointed the university’s first Chair of Life- span Oral Health in 2015, about the role of preventative care in re- search and clinical practice and the general need for a more holistic view on medical conditions and oral health. Prof. Jörg Eberhard: Research over the last several decades has shown that oral disease is linked to general health and other dis eases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis. The availa ble evidence demonstrating this association is based on epidemio logical studies, clinical interven tion trials and knowledge of sound biological mechanisms. A newly released WOHD bro- chure with tips on how to live mouth smart for distribution in practice and clinic waiting rooms can be downloaded at www.worldoralhealthday.com. lished in clinical medical prac tice. “Putting the mouth into health” stands for the strategic vision of overcoming this short coming and is aimed at improv ing the community’s health. How does oral health affect general health? Dental caries and periodontal disease are the most common diseases worldwide and respon sible for a large part of today’s disease burden. Caries results in pain, tooth loss and enormous treatment expenses. Each of these conditions negatively af fects school attendance during childhood, reduces the ability to ensure good nutrition and to participate in a healthy social life among older people, and in creases the load on health care systems. Periodontal disease is not limited to the oral cavity, but releases inflammatory me diators and bacteria into the bloodstream over decades. This may initiate or propagate the development of athero sclerotic plaques, leading to stroke or heart attack, and detrimentally affect blood glucose levels in pre or dia betic states. Do you think there is enough awareness among the pub- lic about the relationship between oral health, over- all well-being and quality of life? There is very limited awareness of the link be tween oral and general disease among the pub lic; however, many health care professionals too are not aware of the as sociation between oral and general health, even though it may sig nificantly affect the wellbeing of patients. Oral health literacy edu cation of the community and health care professionals is a cal students is necessary to estab lish a holistic view of health in the future. What is the dental community’s role and that of national health care policies in this matter? The dental community must realise that dentistry is not lim ited to caries and infected root surfaces; the work of the dental community should be aimed at easing a significant global disease burden and improving the health of the community. Policies must recognise oral health as an inte gral part of general health and health services, inseparable if the population’s health is to be main tained or improved. Do you think that there should be an increased interdisciplinary ex- change between dentistry and medicine? The exchange between den tistry, medicine and other health professions is fundamental to make substantial contributions to medical research and clinical health care in the future. A holis tic view on health and disease is obviously highly relevant for clinical decisionmaking, since medical research has repeatedly demonstrated the interdepend ence of the various organ systems owing to similar generalised mechanisms. With the rising burden of diseases such as periodontitis and diabetes on one hand and increasing aware- ness of prevention on the other, where does dentistry stand today? Since the introduction of fluoridation, the dental research community and the dental pro fession have neglected preventa tive pathways for decades, and re search and clinical activities have focused on restorative treat ments. This trend is epitomised by the use of artificial materials like dental implants to restore natural teeth, which have to be Prof. Jörg Eberhard extracted because of the lack of adequate preventative treat ment. This development is ad vanced by policies that reward re storative treatments and do not support preventative dental treat ments. What role does the increasing use of highly advanced and complex technology in dentistry play in achieving the goal of retaining the natural dentition for as long as possible? Highly advanced and com plex technologies should be lim ited to those patients who have suffered trauma or who have se vere disease or genetic deteriora tions. Health care systems are not able to provide these technolo gies to the broader community and therefore these costinten sive technologies are limited to the privileged. A preventative health care system is also a costefficient health care system, relieving individuals and the public from suffering and high costs. In your opinion, concerning the promotion of oral health and pre- vention among the public, what will the main challenges to mod- ern dentistry be in the years to come? The main challenge in the fu ture for health professions will be to introduce the concept of a holis tic health care approach based on preventative treatments rather than on therapeutic interven tions. Thank you very much for the inter- view. Editorial note: Eberhard will be holding the 2017 WOHD lecture on 20 March from 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. at the Australian Dental Industry Association’s office in Al- exandria in New South Wales. Reg- istration for the event is open at www.wohd.com.au/register.html.