About this Research Topic
In May 2021, the Seventy-Fourth World Health Assembly issued a resolution on oral health and its relationship with the sustainable development goals which are of great relevance to Africa.
This Research Topic aims to shed light on this issue in the African setting to guide policy setting and corrective action.
This Research Topic welcomes research articles about oral health and dentistry in Africa including, but not limited to, the following within African countries:
• Epidemiological profile of oral diseases and conditions.
• Distribution of risk factors and protective behaviors against oral diseases.
• The intersections between oral health and the sustainable development goals.
• Oral diseases and conditions specific to or with high prevalence in Africa such as Noma and facial scarifications.
• Dental workforce composition and mobility issues among, to, and from African countries and efficient dental workforce models.
• Structure and financing of dental care services in African countries with implications for universal health coverage.
• Oral health surveillance systems, monitoring of oral diseases and availability of data.
• Dental education, dental education programs, and dental education institutions.
• Dental research and collaboration among African researchers and countries.
• The impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of dental services and oral health.
• The economic cost of oral diseases, impact of oral diseases on productivity and assessment of cost-effective interventions.
• The interaction between oral diseases and other non-communicable diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, mental disorders and others.
• Diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic modalities suitable to the African setting.
• The impact of dental practice on the environment in Africa in relation to the Minamata convention treaty, green dentistry, use of chemicals in traditional radiography and the use of disposable items in the time of COVID-19.
• Inequalities in oral diseases and exposure to oral health risk factors within and among African countries.
• The role of fluoride, minimally invasive interventions and traditional medicine in addressing oral health problems.
Keywords: Africa, oral health, dentistry, dental education, dental care, dental research
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.