From Volume 47, Issue 10, November 2020 | Pages 784-785
In the 50 years since the formation of the Oral Health Foundation, there have been huge advances in the oral health of the nation. However, a fundamental shift in mindset and attitude, from both the public and the profession, is needed, with a greater focus on the prevention of oral diseases. Further improvements are necessary to lessen social inequities in rates of oral disease, reduce the number of paediatric extractions and improve the population's awareness of oral health.
We all share a vision for a future of better oral health where children are caries free, and adults are enjoying improved levels of oral health and lower levels of tooth loss and periodontal disease.
In order to look forwards, it is necessary to look back at the past. The Oral Health Foundation will celebrate its half centenary next year, in 2021, and in the 50 years since its formation there have been huge advances in the oral health of the nation. It seems incredible now to think that the first Adult Dental Health Survey showed 38% of the population over the age of 16 had full dentures.1 This meant that by middle age, some 75% of people were sporting their nice new NHS prostheses.
We have travelled a long way, and the once fanciful expectation of ‘Teeth for Life’ has become a reality for the majority of the population.
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