On 21st May 2015, I attended the International Centre for Oral Health Inequalities Research and Policy (ICOHIRP) Conference at the Royal College of General Practitioners. There were international eminent speakers, from public health and dentistry. Click here for full speakers’ list: http://goo.gl/hCBgVt

Critical issues were raised by the speakers not just for Britain but world wide. As dental care professionals, we owe it to our patients, to assist in the shaping of solutions that meet the needs of our population. The day was very stimulating, raising so many questions and put the world of dentistry outside of my own surgery into perspective.

In brief, oral diseases cost 80 billion Euros and there is a widening gap between the health of the wealthy and the less well off. This is not just an issue between countries, but also within - often between the rural and urban populations.

The effect of these inequalities have much wider implications than just healthcare as they negatively affect a country’s economy and together with the pressing needs of our aging population the training and education of all health professionals need to be revisited.

Finding a solution for oral health inequality is a challenge. It was clear to me, that despite there being a number of highly trained and skilled people from the fields of public health and dentistry both speaking and in the audience, there was no definite conclusion to answer the question ‘How do we tackle oral health inequalities?’.

The next few blogs will address the individual issues raised by the speakers, including the training of future dental care professionals, childhood caries and the comparison of UK health system with the emerging economies.