The Santa Fe Group

The Santa Fe Group, a think tank of dental educators, researchers and other stakeholders concerned about oral health, will host a meeting in Arlington, VA featuring more than 20 presenters addressing topics related to dental benefits in Medicare.

What

A session titled “Update on Oral Health in America – A Forthcoming Report from the Surgeon General”  will be presented at the Santa Fe Group

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.