Public health dentistry is a non-clinical specialty of dentistry that focuses on preventing and controlling dental diseases, and promoting community dental health. Public health dentistry treats the community as the patient rather than individuals. Some of the organized efforts include dental health public education and group dental care programs.
A public health dentist gets involved in social oral health polices and dental health educational programs for the public, dental epidemiology (the prevention and control of dental disease in a community population), and applied dental research. A public health dentist also studies the patterns, causes and control of dental diseases among groups of people (dental epidemiology), and focuses on the prevention and control of dental disease in a community population. Typically a public health dentist carries a Master of Science (M.S.) in Dental Public Health.
Doctor density varies by specialty and location. Washington, D.C. has 6 practicing public health dentist in Washington.
According to 2005 Census estimates, Washington, D.C. has a population of 550,521. Of this population, 110,240 are under the age of 18 and 66,591 are at or above the age of 65.
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