Dental Public Health Overview 2022

Course Information

• Course title: Dental Public Health
• Institution: De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute, College of Dentistry
• Instructor: David Pablo S. Fernandez Jr., DMD
• Year: 2022
• Location: City of Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines

Class Rules

• Lecture duration: 2 hours
• Grace period for tardiness: 15 minutes
• Absence exceeding 15 minutes: Absent
• Absences exceeding 20% of total class hours: Dropped
• Course materials: Readings uploaded on iLS
• Class participation: Raise hand to recite or participate
• Comfort needs: Allowed without permission

Class Materials

• Quizzes: Filler notebook
• Portfolio (final course output): Clear book
• Student representative: Required for the class

Course Introduction

Health

• World Health Organization (WHO) definition: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"
• Community perspectives: A community's concept of health is part of their customs and traditions.
• Importance: In the last few decades, health has been perceived as a basic right and a worldwide goal. It is essential for basic human needs and improves the quality of life.

Changing Concepts in Health

• Biomedical concept
• Ecological concept
• Psychological concept
• Holistic concept

Biomedical Concept

• Health: Absence of disease
• Body: A machine
• Disease: Breakdown of the machine
• Doctor's role: Repair the machine

Ecological Concept

• Health: Dynamic equilibrium between man and his environment
• Disease: Maladjustment of the human organism to the environment
• Example: Availability of food and population explosion

Psychosocial Concept

• Factors influencing health: Social, psychological, cultural, economic, and political factors of the people concerned
• Nature of health: A physical and social phenomenon

Holistic Concept

• Recognition of influences: Acknowledges the strength of social, economic, political, and environmental influences on health
• Unified process: A unified or multidimensional process involving the wellbeing of the person as a whole
• Focus: Emphasis on the promotion and protection of health

Definitions of Health

• Broad sense: Health as a condition or quality of human expressing the adequate functioning of organism in given conditions, genetic or individual
• Narrow sense: (1) No obvious evidence of disease and (2) Adequate functioning of organs in relation to one another, implying equilibrium

Dimensions of Health

• Physical: Perfect functioning of the body, every cell and organ optimally functioning
• Mental: Ability to respond to experiences of life, a state of balance between individual and surrounding world
• Social: Harmony and integration between individuals and their community, the quantity and quality of interpersonal ties and involvement in the community
• Spiritual: The individual's quest for meaning and purpose in life, intangible “something” transcending physiology and psychology
• Emotional: Relates to feelings, reflecting emotions
• Vocational: Work plays a role in physical and mental health, often associated with wellbeing

Wellbeing

• Subjective: Quality of life
• Objective: Standard of living

Standard of Living

• Factors: Income, occupation, housing standards, sanitation, nutrition, health provision, education, recreational and other services
• Measure: Used individually as measures of socioeconomic status

Quality of Life

• Combination of factors: Condition of life resulting from the combination of factors determining health, happiness, education, social and intellectual attainments
• Freedoms: Freedom of action, justice, and freedom of expression

Theories of Disease Causation

• Germ theory ("Mono causal"): Disease is caused by transmissible agents. A specific agent responsible for one disease only. Examples include work of Koch and Pasteur (1860). Isolation of bacillus causing tuberculosis (1880-1900).
• Epidemiological triad: Result of a host, agent, and the environment. An organism or noxious agent is necessary but not sufficient to cause disease.
• Web of causation: Considers all factors and their interrelationships, usefully studied for chronic diseases, possible to control diseases by removing/eliminating a single factor.
• Theory of general susceptibility: Addresses why subgroups are more susceptible, emerged in the last two decades, not concerned with single/multiple risk factors.

1st Quiz

• Content: Not specified in the provided text.

Socioeconomic Approach

• Environmental impact on health: Risk conditions from environments directly affect health by creating risks physically, behaviorally, and psychologically.
• Health improvement requires modification of these environments.

Prevention of Disease

• Definition: Action to stop ill health before it begins.

Levels/Categories of Prevention

• Primordial: Prevents emergence of risk factors in areas/populations before they develop.
• Primary: Action taken prior to disease onset, aims to prevent disease occurrence in healthy individuals.
• Secondary: Halts disease progression early, prevents complications in individuals at risk.
• Tertiary: Deals with advanced stages of disease, aims to contain disease or effects on long term basis, seeks to prevent recurrence, all available measures to reduce/limit impairments

Primordial Prevention

• Focus: Preventing risk factor development in countries/populations where it hasn't appeared yet.

Primary Prevention

• Actions: Taken prior to disease onset, aims to remove disease possibility, focused on healthy individuals/populations.
• Actions (a) health promotion; Health education; environmental modification; nutritional intervention
• Actions (b) specific protection; Immunization; specific nutrition; avoidance of allergens; protection from carcinogens; ingestion of optimally fluoridated water; application of PFS.

Secondary Prevention

• Intervening/preventing disease progression and recurrence.
• (a)Early diagnosis: Identifying disturbances of homeostasis and compensatory mechanisms while biochemical/morphological changes are reversible.
• (b)Prompt treatment: Arresting the disease process; restoring health by identifying unrecognized diseases before irreversible pathological changes occur; reversing spread of infectious diseases.
• Actions: Screening for subclinical disease, case-finding

Tertiary Prevention

• Actions: Taken at advanced disease stages, contain and prevent disease recurrence, reduce/limit impairment & disability, assist patient's adjustment to irreversible conditions, rehabilitation, and prevent death.
• (a) Disability limitation: Prevent progression to disability, focus is preventing the transition of the disease process from impairment to handicap.
• (b) Rehabilitation: Coordinated use of medical, social, educational, and vocational measures to train/retrain the individual to reach highest level of functional ability.
• Examples: Special schools for blind pupils, aids for disabled, reconstructive surgery, modifying life to aid patients with TB or heart conditions.

Barriers to Preventive Strategies

• Diversity of population
• Inherent beliefs/mores
• Advertising
• Pressure groups
• Access
• Resources

Explore the key concepts and rules of the Dental Public Health course conducted in 2022. This quiz will cover the fundamental definitions of health according to WHO, as well as the class structure and materials required for successful participation.