Community dentistry and oral epidemiology
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Community Dent Oral Epidemiol · Aug 2012
Integrating the common risk factor approach into a social determinants framework.
The common risk factor approach (CRFA) has been highly influential in integrating oral health into general health improvement strategies. However, dental policy makers and oral health promoters have interpreted the CRFA too narrowly. They have focussed too heavily on the common behavioural risks, rather than on the broader shared social determinants of chronic diseases. ⋯ The theoretical basis for a social determinants framework for oral health inequalities is presented, and implications for oral health improvement strategies are highlighted. Future action to address oral health inequalities in middle- and high-income countries requires a radical policy reorientation towards tackling the structural and environmental determinants of chronic diseases. In more equal and fairer societies, all sections of the social hierarchy experience better health and social well-being.