The Practice of Primary Dental Care

Designed for dental practitioners, this text explores the primary health care approach, as developed by the World Health Organization, in relation to health care and dental services. The book begins with a discussion of the problems caused by current approaches to health and illness. The primary health care approach is presented in the text as a viable framework from which to address the problems of health care as they are currently practised, in an effort to promote health for all. The rest of the text is based on the authors' use of this approach as a basis for planning health care in general, and dental services in particular. Some chapters focus on the issues of health and illness in populations at large, while others discuss ways in which dental practitioners can extend their practices to reduce the inequality of health in a community.