Oral health care is not uniformly attainable across the nation. Unfortunately, individuals who face the greatest barriers to care are often among the most vulnerable members of our society.
Data Reports
The first Surgeon General Report on Oral Health was published in 2012. Since that time, the field of interprofessional oral health care has grown. See below for some highlights, captured in the many reports and key resources issued by HRSA and our partners.
Oral Health Services for Children and Adolescents with Special Care Needs
The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) developed Oral Health Services for Children and Adolescents with Special Health Care Needs: A Resource Guide (4th edition) to provide information to health professionals, program administrators, educators, policymakers, and others working in states and communities in planning, developing, and implementing efforts to ensure that CASHCN receive optimal oral health
care.
Advancing Oral Health in America
Oral health care is often excluded from our thinking about health. Taken together with vision care and mental health care, it seems that problems above the neck are commonly regarded as peripheral to health care and health care policy.
Oral Health Care During Pregnancy: A National Consensus Statement
This consensus statement resulted from the Oral Health Care During Pregnancy Consensus Development Expert Workgroup Meeting convened by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau in collaboration with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Dental Association and coordinated by the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center. Visit the website to learn more.
Oral Health: An Essential Component of Primary Care
Strengthening the primary care delivery system, investing in prevention, and reducing unnecessary costs are national healthcare priorities. To learn more about the safety net medical home initiative, visit the website.
Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General
The first-ever Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health (2000) alerts Americans to the full meaning of oral health and its importance to general health and well-being. Great progress has been made in reducing the extent and severity of common oral diseases. Successful prevention measures adopted by communities, individuals, and oral health professionals have resulted in marked improvements in the nation’s oral and dental health.