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Defining Primary Care
Dental professionals can be a vital part of the primary healthcare system. For simplicity throughout this document, the term “primary care” is used to delineate medical care settings and professionals, specifically nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, physicians and physician assistants, and the teams that support them. To effectively combat oral disease, we need to expand the oral disease prevention workforce and intervene earlier in the course of disease. Primary care providers (including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and nurse midwives) and their teams have the skills, resources, tools, and scope of practice required to understand and intervene in the oral disease process.19 Utilizing these professionals for prevention and early detection will improve patient and family health, and maximize the value of the healthcare workforce by preserving the time and skills of dentists to manage complex disease. This section explores the complementary roles of primary care and dentistry in addressing oral disease, and describes the benefits of providing preventive oral health care in the primary care setting. To reduce the burden of oral disease, the efforts and skills of both primary care providers and dentists, and their respective teams, will be required. The job is too great for either discipline alone.
Understanding Oral and Dental Disease and Defining Oral Health
Oral disease encompasses all unhealthy conditions of the teeth and soft tissues in the oral cavity including: oral cancer; Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ); caries; periodontal diseases; salivary gland tumors; congenital anomalies (e.g., cleft lip and palate); soft tissue oral conditions such as lichen planus, pemphigus, herpes, and Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis (ANUG). Dental diseases are limited to teeth and gums, primarily caries, gingivitis, and periodontal diseases. Oral health can be defined as a state of being free from chronic mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral sores, birth defects such as cleft lip and palate, periodontal (gum) disease, tooth decay and tooth loss, and other diseases and disorders that affect the oral cavity.