Description:
Oral diseases affect more than 3.7 billion people globally, yet oral health remains separated from medicine, public health, and policy systems. This fragmentation limits prevention efforts, obscures shared risk factors, and reduces population-level impact. This session presents a systems-based approach to integrating dentistry into systemic health by examining the global burden of oral diseases, siloed care models, and structural inequities that shape outcomes. Speakers highlight interdisciplinary training, educational strategies, programmatic approaches, and epidemiologic evidence connecting oral health with behavioral, biological, environmental, and systemic determinants. The session also explores how epidemiology, civil society engagement, and United Nations platforms support scalable, equitable solutions that position oral health within broader global health agendas.
Learn to:
- describe the global burden and distribution of oral diseases within the broader NCD framework
- evaluate the limitations of prevention-focused and siloed dental care models
- explain how oral health is shaped by behavioral, biological, environmental, and structural determinants
- identify interdisciplinary models for integrating oral health into systemic health, education, and policy
- understand the role of epidemiology and civil society in advancing global oral health integration
DR. FERNANDO N. HUGO
Chair, Dept. of Epidemiology & Health Promotion, NYU College of Dentistry
GLOBAL BURDEN OF ORAL DISEASES
Global prevalence, trends, and inequities.Oral-systemic health connections. Application of public health concepts to oral health
DR. JAIME EDELSON
Chair, International Congress Mexican Dental Association
PREVENTION IN ORAL HEALTH IS NOT ENOUGH
Limitations of prevention-focused approaches. Need for upstream, systems-level strategies. Public–Private Partnership in Mexican Lower Schools.
DR. MATILDE HERNANDEZ
Global Sr. Dir., Professional Engagement & Scientific Affairs, Colgate Palmolive Company
SCIENCE TURNED INTO TRUSTED CONVERSATIONS VIA PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
Discuss the latest evidence on whole-body health and public-private partnerships, such as our work with the WHO Foundation, collaborations with FDI, IAPD, ICD, AOHAB and IFDH. The session will also share the economic impact of investing in oral health, referencing the World Economic Forum (WEF), with examples of global work and professional engagement strategies.
DEBORAH WEISFUSE, MS, DMD
President, Alliance for Oral Health Across Borders (AOHAB)
INNOVATIVE MODELS FOR INTEGRATION: THE AOHAB APPROACH
Global oral health education and interdisciplinary training. Leadership in Global Oral Health curriculum and implementation examples Role of civil societies
DR. KIRAN P. NAGDEO
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Epidemiology, NYU School of Global Public Health
BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND THE INTEGRATION OF ORAL AND SYSTEMIC HEALTH
Integrating Dentistry into Systemic Health: A Multi-Level Systems Framework Informed by Epidemiologic Evidence. Reframing oral health beyond dentistry. Role of epidemiology in linking exposures, populations, and outcomes
Evidence across levels of integration: behavioral (maternal tobacco cessation), systemic (UPF consumption & caries), biological (oral microbiome), and environmental exposures (trace metals & oral diseases),
