An Integrative Literature Review on The Oral Health Sector of Korea National Health Promotion Plan

Abstract

Background: The establishment of a strategy for the reduction and prevention of oral disease, a global pervasive disease, is considered one of the important national health policy strategies. In Korea, the 5th Comprehensive National Health Promotion Plan is currently in progress, but there is insufficient research on the transition process or improvement direction in the field of oral health. Methods: Changes in Comprehensive National Health Promotion Plan’s Oral health sector in three countries were compared, and the direction of the three countries (Korea, the United States, and Canada) in accordance with the recent Oral health paradigm was confirmed. In this study, we reviewed the existing literature using the narrative review method to draw implications for strategies and directions for oral health promotion in Korea. Results: In Korea, the oral health promotion strategy is included in the 5th Comprehensive National Health Promotion Plan, and the project is being led by the government. The United States prepared a national-led oral health promotion strategy and suggested multi-disciplinary cooperation to improve overall oral health and reduce the oral health inequality. For more active intervention, Canada established an oral health-related department and assigned experts, while emphasizing cooperation between the government and the private sector.Conclusion: As a result of this study, Korea is also making efforts to improve oral health, but more active government intervention is needed to reduce the inequality in oral health by population group. To this end, it is necessary to establish a strong multi-sectoral cooperation system and prepare a strategy for implementation.