Transnational corporations and oral health inequalities; an introduction

In an increasingly globalised world, Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) wield considerable social, economic and political influence, both in the international market economy and within individual countries. The practices of TNCs can have positive or adverse effects on population health through production methods and products, shaping social determinants of health, or influencing the regulatory structures governing their activities. TNCs can contribute to health inequities if the health consequences arising from their practices have disproportionate adverse impacts on vulnerable populations or positive benefits for less vulnerable groups. Despite growing recognition of the implications for health, including oral health, arising from TNC practices, little research has sought to systematically assess the oral health and/or oral health equity impacts of TNCs. In the four papers that follow, we contribute to the discourse around oral health-related inequalities through the lens of power, human agency and TNCs. The papers formed the basis of a symposium entitled 'Transnational Corporations and oral health inequalities' at the 97th General Session of the International Association of Dental Research held June 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The authors responded to the 2014 Lancet-University of Oslo Commission on Global Governance for Health call for greater attention to the health effects of TNC practices and the regulatory regimes in which they operate. The papers overview the role of TNCs in oral health inequalities at an international level, with a specific focus on illuminating their far-reaching influence on our everyday lives, from both epidemiological and sociological perspectives, and the multi-faceted positive or adverse effects on oral health this might have. Key TNC examples are provided by way of the sugar and the tobacco industries, with their impact on dental caries, periodontal diseases and head and neck cancers.