ABSTRACT
In the Spring of 2000, the Surgeon General of the United States released the first-ever report on “Oral Health in America.” The intent of this landmark report is to alert the American people to the full meaning of oral health and its importance to general health and well being. The report has five major themes:
1. Oral health means much more than healthy teeth. 2. Oral health is integral to general health. 3. Safe and effective disease prevention measures exist that everyone can adopt to
improve oral health and prevent disease. 4. General health risk factors, such as tobacco use and poor dietary practices, also
affect oral and craniofacial health. 5. There are significant oral health disparities among racial and ethnic minority
population cohorts.
