The ability of oral health professionals to significantly influence improving overall health

In 2000, David Satcher wrote, Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, and stated that “oral health means much more than healthy teeth,” and he challenged all health providers to step up and be a part of the improvement of the nation's oral health status. Over the past few decades, the heightened awareness of these oral health inequities within the United States has resulted in public policy stakeholders and scholars, similarly calling for the improvement of the nation's oral health status. Satcher also suggested that saliva may provide clues to a patient's overall health and a possible predictor of systemic disease. There have been several articles that have demonstrated an increased risk of systemic diseases with circulating inflammatory mediators, a reduction in treatment cost for pregnant women who received treatment for their clinically diagnosed periodontal disease. Health profession education has responded to the call for transforming the health system by developing graduates who are capable for working in an environment designed to improve the overall health of patients. Therefore, this article examines why oral health professionals have a significant opportunity to contribute to the improvement overall health of patients and participate in healthcare transformation.