Political Activism by Hand Surgeons

Moving towards social dentistry: How do dentists perceive the Montreal‐Toulouse model?

“…Our findings suggest that in order to promote the Montreal-Toulouse model and empower dentists to address social and structural determinants of health, an educational 'paradigm shift' towards social accountability might be necessary, as advocated by various authors. 29,[31][32][33][34][35][36] To do so, dentistry could follow suit with other healthcare professions-such as medicine [14][15][16] and nursing [37][38][39] which have regained interest in the social aspects of care during recent decades.…”

“…Dentists should also identify the The societal level is similar, with a focus on learning about the social, political and economic structures that directly or indirectly affect the population's oral health; it also includes advocating for beneficial oral-health-related policies and programmes through upstream actions and 'social/political activism'-that is, going beyond what is conventional or routine to bring about a change in society, often by confronting the 'status quo', or 'the way things are'. 1,15,16 In brief, the adoption of the Montreal-Toulouse model by dentists could contribute to the improvement of the population's oral health. At this stage, however, we do not know if dental professionals are ready to adopt this model and, more generally, biopsychosocial approaches that redefine the way they have practiced dentistry so far.…”

“…The societal level is similar, with a focus on learning about the social, political and economic structures that directly or indirectly affect the population's oral health; it also includes advocating for beneficial oral‐health‐related policies and programmes through upstream actions and ‘social/political activism’—that is, going beyond what is conventional or routine to bring about a change in society, often by confronting the ‘status quo’, or ‘the way things are’ 1,15,16 …”