NIHR Global Health Research Group on Oral Health Oral diseases include a range of chronic conditions affecting the mouth and teeth including dental caries (tooth decay), periodontal (gum) disease, and mouth cancers. Despite being largely preventable, these oral conditions are among the most common diseases globally affecting over 3.5 billion people worldwide with disease rates increasing in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Untreated oral diseases have significant adverse effects causing severe pain, infection, reduced quality of life, and death. Oral diseases disproportionally affect poorer and marginalised groups, being very closely linked to levels of education and income. Oral diseases share common risks with other chronic diseases including sugar consumption, poor hygiene, tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, and the broader underlying social environment (the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age). Increasing attention is also now being placed on the role of multinational corporations who market, promote and sell products which are detrimental to health (commercial determinants). In many LMICs dental services are often inaccessible and unaffordable to large segments of the population but particularly the rural poor.

This research programme will address the neglect of oral diseases in four 
middle-income countries – Kenya, Colombia, India and Brazil. In these countries oral diseases are a major public health problem and there is a pressing need for high quality public health research to promote oral health and reduce oral health inequalities. The research is being co-led by Professor Richard Watt (University College London) and Dr Carol Guarnizo-Herreno (National University of Colombia) and an academic team from the UK, Brazil, India, Kenya and Colombia. In addition collaborators from the US, Australia, Ireland, The Netherlands and Singapore will support the research. 

The overall aim of the programme is to explore the causes of oral health inequalities and to co-produce and pilot interventions to improve population oral health and reduce oral health inequalities in each country. The four-year programme will comprise of three interconnected work packages including: WP1 Oral Health Inequalities; WP2 Commercial determinants; WP3 Oral health system reform and innovation. In addition, the programme will develop local research capacity through an extensive range of training and short courses. Community engagement and involvement activities will fully inform and support all aspects of the planned research. The results from the programme of research will be shared and disseminated across policy, professional, and community networks in each of the participating LMIC countries but also more widely across existing international research and policy networks. 1. To establish an equitable, effective and sustainable research partnership across the UK academic institutions, participating Low and Middle Income Countries (Kenya, Colombia, India and Brazil), and the other academic collaborators to share respective expertise, experience and local knowledge of oral health.
2. To develop and undertake a programme of research on oral diseases and their causes to inform the co-production and feasibility testing of public health interventions to reduce oral health inequalities and promote oral health, and reform oral health systems in each country.
3. To build and develop dental public health research capacity amongst early career oral health researchers in each country through postgraduate training, short courses, and mentoring opportunities.
4. To establish and develop meaningful communication with local communities in each country to better understand community experiences of oral diseases and use of dental services, and the best ways ahead of promoting sustainable community engagement and involvement in oral health research.
5. To engage and advocate with key local stakeholders in each country, including policy makers, senior clinicians and leaders of health professional organisations, public health agencies and community organisations on the public health importance of oral diseases and the need for a sustainable oral health research agenda.