Integrating Oral and General Health Through Health Literacy Practices

Oral health care and medical health care both seek to maintain and enhance human health and well-being. Yet, dentistry and primary care in the United States are largely separated and isolated from each other. Each has its own siloed systems for education, service delivery, financing, and policy oversight. The result has been duplication of effort, a cultural gap between the two professions, and lost opportunities for productive collaboration and better health. On December 6, 2018, in Washington, DC, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop titled Integrating Oral and General Health Through Health Literacy Practices. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.Table of ContentsFront Matter1 Introduction and Overview2 Integrating Oral Health, Primary Care, and Health Literacy3 Systems Thinking, Integration, and Health Literacy as a Catalyst4 Health Literacy and Care Integration5 Exploring Pathways to Integration6 Developing a Research Agenda for Integration7 Reflections on the WorkshopReferencesAppendix A Workshop AgendaAppendix B Biographical Sketches