H K DJ Hong Kong Dent J Vol 2 No 2 December 2005 79 FEATURED ARTICLE Hong Kong Dental Journal 2005;2:79-83 Introduction Dentists who want to undergo specialty training in orthodontics will, without any difficulty, find a training program named as such anywhere in the world. In contrast, there is little agreement on what constitutes community or public health dentistry. In the United States, ‘public health dentistry’ is the accepted term for the specialty and related bodies; in the United Kingdom it is ‘dental public health’; in Australia, the term ‘population oral health’ is increasingly used; in Hong Kong, the College of Dental Surgeons of Hong Kong is considering a specialty under the name of ‘community dentistry’. Some decades ago, a number of other names were proposed, such as ecological dentistry or social dentistry, but despite the fact that this was Blackerby’s original suggestion 1 , the terms have remained marginal. Although confusion remains about the terminology, there appears to be general agreement about the broad definitions of this field. The main purposes of this paper were: (1) to describe the discipline and to identify some of the knowledge base and research that makes it an indispensable part of modern dentistry and (2) to outline some of the global issues considered to be important in community dentistry. Community dentistry will be used as the terminology to be consistent with the expected outcome of the College deliberations. Definitions and relationships Community dentistry is the specialty of dentistry that concerns the promotion of oral health, the prevention of oral disease, and the provision and administration of oral health and dental care services in defined populations and communities. The specialty recognizes the role of behavioral and environmental factors as determinants of oral health. The goals of the specialty are to identify and measure the oral health problems and oral health care needs of the community; to identify means by which these needs can be best met within the constraints of resources; to provide and manage services to meet these needs; and to evaluate the extent to which these needs have been met. In this specialty, epidemiological principles are applied to describe and define dental public health problems, as well as to formulate and evaluate oral health programs and policies. This approach aims to achieve significant improvements in the oral health of communities as much as individuals. It also aims to advance the oral health of the population through the practice of evidence-based dentistry, and the effective and efficient management of oral health care services and resources 2-4 . There are several components of this definition that refer to the ‘mother disciplines’ with which community dentistry is closely related. One of the characteristics of community dentistry is that it relies heavily on the basic oral health disciplines such as * Faculty of Dentistry, University of Sydney, Australia Correspondence to: Prof. Eli Schwarz 6/F, Sydney Dental Hospital, University of Sydney, 2 Chalmers Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia Tel : (61-2) 9153 8334 Fax : (61-2) 9211 5912 e-mail : eschwarz@usyd.edu.au Community dentistry and public health dentistry—roles and current discipline issues Eli Schwarz *, KOD, DDS, MPH, PhD, FHKAM (Dental Surgery), FCDSHK, FACD ABSTRACT This paper aimed to describe the specialty of community dentistry and to highlight some of the knowledge base and research that makes it an indispensable part of modern dentistry. In addition, some important global issues will be discussed. Community dentistry is a varied and changing field. It derives its knowledge base and methods of inquiry from dental as well as socio-behavioral disciplines. The combination of these provides a fertile ground for being involved in decision-making at the highest levels of society, when choices are made and plans devised to improve the health care system that will eventually positively impact the oral health of the population. Community dentists will often be asked to translate incomprehensible research data into practical everyday preventive recommendations that are relevant to society’s financial constraints. The acceptance of this discipline as a specialty in its own right—as in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia—is a just recognition of the many contributions community dentistry makes to the dental profession, to society, and to the population as a whole.