Definition of Public Health and Dental Public Health - Community Dentistry

Definition of Public Health:

Public Heath

According to Winslow(1920), Public Health is defined as "The art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting physical and mental efficiency, through organized community efforts; for the sanitation of environment, the control of communicable infection, the education of individual in personal hygiene; The organisation of medical and nursing service for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease and the development of the social machinery to ensure everyone a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health, so organising these benefits as to enable every citizen to realize the birthright of health and longevity."

[Winslow 1920]

OR

Knutson defined Public Health as "of or pertaining to the people of a community, state or a nation."

He offered a simple, yet comprehensive definition of Public Health as 

"Public Heath is a peoples health. It is concerned with the aggregate health of a group, a community, a state or a nation." [Knutson]

Definition of Dental Public Health

Dental Public Health

"The science and art of preventing and controlling dental disease and promoting dental health through organized community efforts. It is that form of dental practice which serves the community as a patient rather than the individual. It is concerned with dental health education of public with applied dental research and with administration of group dental care programs as well as the prevention and control of dental disease on a community basis."

Given by The American Board of Dental Public Health by adapting Winslow's Definition [Adopted May 1976]

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