ACTA SCIENTIFIC DENTAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2581-4893) Volume 3 Issue 9 September 2019 Common Risk Factor Approach for Oral Diseases- A SWOT Analysis Sreekanth Bose* Department of Public Health Dentistry, India *Corresponding Author: Sreekanth Bose, Department of Public Health Dentistry, India. Research Article Received: July 05, 2019; Published: August 08, 2019 Abstract Keywords: Risk Factor; Oral Diseases; NCDs Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) are on a rising trend in developed and developing world. Oral diseases are now considered as public health problem due to its effect on quality of life. Both these diseases are having many epidemiological similarities. Classical method of disease prevention and control strategies are not applicable there. Due to the presence of similar determinants in disease formation, a new method called- common risk factor approach is devised as a preventive strategy for them. The method aims to con- trol risk factors which are common to NCDs and oral diseases. The method is based on principles of health promotion and is cost effective, but at the same time it has a many limitations too. The method have limited evidence regarding its application, hence it should be practiced with caution. Of 56.9 million global deaths in 2016, 40.5 million, or 71%, were due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The four main NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic lung diseases. The burden of these diseases is rising disproportionately among lower income countries and populations. In 2016, over three quarters of NCD deaths -- 31.5 million -- occurred in low- and middle-income countries with about 46% of deaths occurring before the age of 70 in these countries [1]. Oral diseases, including dental caries, periodontal disease and oral cancer, are neglected but important NCDs with a significant burden on overall health [2]. There is a need for a single strategy to prevent and manage non- communicable diseases [3]. The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial emphasized the limitations of the lifestyle approach wherein Health professionals have traditionally focused upon changing the behaviours of their patients for promoting health and preventing disease, but failed to understand that there were problems related to social and cultural milieu rather than of the individual. This paved in the path for Common Risk Factor Approach revolutionising the concept that Oral health problems have risk factor in common with a number of important chronic diseases, and it’s inefficient to target each disease separately when they have similar origins [4]. A number of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, strokes, injuries and oral diseases have risk factors in common and For centuries, communicable diseases were the main causes of death around the world. Life expectancy was often limited by uncontrolled epidemics. After the second World War, with medical research achievements in terms of vaccination, antibiotics and improvement of life conditions, non communicable diseases (NCDs) started causing major problems in industrialized countries. Heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, chronic pulmonary and mental diseases became a real burden for health systems in developed countries. For a while, these diseases were associated with economic development and so called diseases of the rich. Then, by the dawn of the third millennium, NCDs appeared sweeping the entire globe, with an increasing trend in developing countries where, the transition imposes more constraints to deal with the double burden of infective and non-infective diseases in a poor environment characterized by ill-health systems [6]. Eighty percent of NCD related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, especially as these countries undergo Rise of NCDs Introduction many risk factors are relevant to more than one chronic disease. Such risk factor oriented strategies are more rational than those directed at specific diseases [4]. The key concept underlying the integrated common risk approach is that promoting general health by controlling a small number of risk factors may have a major impact on a large number of diseases at a lower cost, greater efficiency and effectiveness than disease specific approaches [5]. DOI: 10.31080/ASDS.2019.03.0611 Citation: Sreekanth Bose. “Common Risk Factor Approach for Oral Diseases- A SWOT Analysis”. Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 3.9 (2019): 07-09.