Advancing Universal Oral Health Coverage via Person- Centred Outcomes

The World Health Organization member states proposed a comprehensive Global Strategy on Oral Health, which includes achieving universal oral health coverage by 2030. Challenges and barriers, including persistent inequalities, will hamper the achievement of universal oral health coverage. In low-and middle-income countries, the oral health of a large proportion of the population has been neglected, increasing oral health inequalities. In high-income countries, some receive excessive dental treatment, whilst particularly those with higher needs receive too little dental care. Therefore, an analysis of individual countries' needs, encompassing the training of oral health professionals in a new philosophy of care and attention and the optimisation of the existing resources, is necessary. Distancing from a person-centred focus has prompted individual and societal issues, including under-/overdiagnosis and under-/overtreatment. The person-centred approach considers the perceptions, needs, preferences, and circumstances of individuals and populations. Patient-reported outcome measures, such as self-rated and-reported health, reflect an individual's overall perception of health and are designed to mediate human biology (ie, the disease) and psychology. The usage of patient-reported outcome measures in dentistry to place the individual at the centre of treatment is delayed compared to other areas. This paper discusses some challenges and potential solutions of patient-reported outcome measures in dentistry for achieving universal oral health coverage.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of FDI World Dental Federation.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Automated summary

The World Health Organization member states have proposed a comprehensive Global Strategy on Oral Health in order to achieve universal oral health coverage by 2030. However, challenges and barriers, such as persistent inequalities, pose obstacles to achieving this goal. In low- and middle-income countries, oral health issues have been neglected, leading to increased inequalities. Conversely, in high-income countries, there is excessive dental treatment for some individuals while those with greater needs receive inadequate dental care. It is necessary to analyze the specific needs of individual countries, train oral health professionals with a new philosophy of care, and optimize existing resources. Moving away from a person-centered focus has resulted in individual and societal problems, including under-/overdiagnosis and under-/overtreatment. The person-centered approach takes into account the perceptions, needs, preferences, and circumstances of individuals and populations. The use of patient-reported outcome measures in dentistry to prioritize the individual in treatment lags behind other areas. This paper discusses the challenges and potential solutions of patient-reported outcome measures in dentistry for achieving universal oral health coverage.