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Sammanfattning

Over the past two decades new principles and strategies for promotion of health have emerged, primarily due to consolidation of public health science and international health organizations such as the World Health Organization. The expanded concept of health, including quality of life dimensions, in addition to the biomedical characteristics of disease and illness, have stimulated the development of national health policies that incorporate social determinants of health. The evidence for oral health promotion has been growing markedly over the past three decades, and the challenges for translation of knowledge into action programmes are great. Oral health promotion comprises initiatives at the policy level as regards the food and tobacco industries, for example, water and safety sanitations, and effective use of fluoride for prevention of dental caries. Healthy settings for health promotion such as school health programmes are important for promoting health and healthy lifestyles of children and youth. Health education is a key element in health promotion and requires sound planning based on theories of health-related behaviour. Finally, reorientation of health services towards health promotion and disease prevention is sorely needed around the globe, even in the Nordic countries where some improvements in quality health care have been shown in recent years. This report emphasizes how the basic principles and strategies in health promotion apply to promotion of oral health. Evaluation of community oral health programmes based on systematic information about cost-effectiveness and processes is valuable for sharing experiences in oral health promotion across countries. The integrated approach to oral health within health promotion and chronic disease prevention, as suggested by the WHO Global Oral Health Programme, is discussed.

MeSH