Davies R. Richard Watt: time to tackle oral diseases.

Author: Davies R.

Source: The Lancet

Year: 2019

Comment:

Abstract / Excerpt:

Richard Watt first became aware of the social roots of oral health inequalities more than 30 years ago when he was a dentist at Greaves Hall psychiatric hospital in Merseyside, UK. There, he witnessed “appalling” levels of oral disease. “The mouth really is a marker of people’s social position and future disease risk”, he says, “and oral diseases are a canary in the coal mine for inequality”. Today, Watt is Professor andChair of Dental Public Health at University College London (UCL) in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. Being housed in this department rather than the dental school might seem unusual, but Watt says it allows him to pursue “opportunities for broader integrated research and teaching” and fits his view that oral health is inextricably linked to other chronic diseases: “A lot of my work cuts across different areas of public health and recognises that
rather than look at a single disease in a silo, many chronic conditions share common pathways and causes.” Watt uses this position to be an advocate “influencing policy, challenging injustice, and promoting social equity”, he says.

Citation: Davies R. Richard Watt: time to tackle oral diseases. The Lancet. 2019 ;394(10194):209.