The 2019 National Oral Health Conference (NOHC) will feature sessions that focus on issues and topics relevant to research, policy, programs, education and community-based care, highlighting how all these areas of public health are integrated toward achieving “optimal oral health” for the nation’s population.
What
A session titled “Update on Oral Health in America – A Forthcoming Report from the Surgeon General” will be presented at the 2019 National Oral Health Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday April 17, 2019, from 10am to 11am.
Who
Tim Ricks, DMD, MPH
Chief Dental Officer, US Public Health Service
Bruce Dye, DDS, MPH
Co-Director, Surgeon General's Report project team
NIH / NIDCR
Judith Albino, PhD
Co-Director, Surgeon General's Report project team
NIH / NIDCR
Background
The U.S. Surgeon General announced in 2018 the commissioning of a new Surgeon General's Report presenting prominent issues affecting oral health. The charge for the first Surgeon General’s report on oral health in 2000 was to define, describe, and evaluate the interaction between oral health and health and well-being, through the lifespan in the context of changes in society. The overarching message from that report clearly communicated that oral health is essential to the general health and well-being of all Americans and can be achieved by all.
The new report is intended to document advances and challenges affecting oral health, to identify existing knowledge gaps, and to articulate a vision for the future. The purpose of this session is to provide information on (1) the factors influencing the need for an update to the first report and (2) initial activities implemented to inform the early development of the updated report.
For more information, visit the NOHC website.