A Right to Health-Based Approach to Dental Caries: Toward a Comprehensive Control Strategy

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Human Rights Law
• Dental Public Health

Background:

• Dental caries is the most prevalent noncommunicable disease worldwide, impacting human rights.
• Despite being preventable, dental caries receives inadequate attention in human rights, health law, and dental research.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized the right to oral health, but its scope remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a right to health-based framework for addressing dental caries.
• To explore the implications of international human rights treaties for oral health.
• To advocate for a comprehensive approach to dental caries prevention and control.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
• Examination of the obligations of states parties to these treaties regarding the right to health, including oral health.
• Development of a right to health-based narrative for dental caries management.

Main Results:

• States have legally binding obligations under international human rights law to ensure the highest attainable standard of health, encompassing oral health.
• A right to health approach necessitates regulating not only healthcare systems but also environmental risk factors and access to fluoride.
• This comprehensive strategy enhances dental caries control, particularly through prevention.

Conclusions:

• Dental caries is unequivocally a matter of human rights, imposing obligations on states.
• Effective dental caries control requires a multi-faceted approach integrating healthcare regulation with environmental and public health interventions.
• A right to health perspective provides a robust foundation for prioritizing and implementing comprehensive dental caries prevention strategies.