Oral Health Equity Must Address Oppression: On the BSSOH Consensus Statement

Self Cite

Major sociohistorical processes have profound effects on oral health, with impacts experienced through structural oppression manifested in policies and practices across the lifespan. Structural oppression drives oral health inequities and impacts population‐level oral health. In this global perspective paper, we challenge old assumptions about oral health inequities, address misleading conceptualizations in their description and operation and reframe oral health through the lens of intersecting systems of oppression. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for oral health researchers to explore causal pathways through which oppression harms oral health and engage in social science concepts to understand the root causes of oral health inequities fully. Finally, we call on policymakers, dental scholars and decision makers to consider health equity in all policies and to take a systems‐oriented approach to effectively address oral health inequities.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Con Clus Ionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing inequities and oppression in oral health research

Fleming

Bastos

Jamieson

et al. 2023

Self Cite

“…Topics such as the historical relations between countries, including a critical assessment of oral health according to whether the countries were/are colonial empires or colonies, as well as examining whether improved population oral health is compatible with capitalist systems of production, are still missing in the field. In line with the Consensus Statement that highlights the need to utilize insights from the social and political theories of power, 90 conceptual frameworks and research should shed light on how structural racism, as a key form of oppression, generates and amplifies (oral) health inequalities 23,27,91–93 . Community‐based participatory research processes are needed to assess the social and political determinants of oral health inequalities and in particular the power dynamics across key stakeholders and actors 52 .…”

Section: Next Steps For Research Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In line with the Consensus Statement that highlights the need to utilize insights from the social and political theories of power, 90 conceptual frameworks and research should shed light on how structural racism, as a key form of oppression, generates and amplifies (oral) health inequalities. 23,27,[91][92][93] Community-based participatory research processes are needed to assess the social and political determinants of oral health inequalities and in particular the power dynamics across key stakeholders and actors. 52 Participatory research processes are also relevant to analyse and develop policy proposals that build community power and create strategic with community organizations, social movements and civil society groups to transform oral health systems and promote greater oral health equity.…”

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections on oral health inequalities: Theories, pathways and next steps for research priorities

Tsakos

Watt

Guarnizo-Herreño

2023

Health inequalities have not decreased over the last decades and for some outcomes have even increased, with disadvantaged groups in contemporary societies still enduring higher burdens of mortality and morbidity, including oral diseases. 1,2 These stark inequalities in health most often take the pattern of a social gradient, whereby each lower socioeconomic position group has a higher health burden than the immediately less deprived group. 3 These social gradients are linked to structural factors like policies of economic liberalization, changes in labour markets and an austerity approach to social policies. 4,5 Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has both magnified previously existing inequalities and created new ones in what has been called the syndemic of COVID-19, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the social determinants of health. 6 The pandemic has exacerbated access barriers with the more disadvantaged population

“…Thus, we are pleased that the Consensus Statement quickly evoked two commentaries and already sparked debate in the field. We appreciate the view of the Summit as “transformational” by Raskin and Fleming, 7 and their acknowledging its call for global oral health equity through application of behavioral and social science. We also appreciate that Raskin and Fleming have challenged us and the entire field to specifically consider the oppression of marginalized groups as a key focus in this work (for more, see a timely, must‐read special issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry 8 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Harnessing the behavioral and social sciences to promote oral health: Where do we go from here?

Randall

McNeil

2023

Harnessing the behavioral and social sciences to promote oral health: Where do we go from here?The 2020 Behavioral and Social Oral Health Sciences Summit was the first large-scale, comprehensive conference in more than a quartercentury organized specifically for those applying behavioral and social science to research in dentistry and oral health. Moreover, it was the first international meeting of its kind. The intent of this special issue of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology was twofold: to serve as the published proceedings of the Summit and to extend the leading-edge presentations and engaging reactor panel discussions that took place